


Inside

by NikkiBlu



Series: The Secret of Orchid [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-03-26 09:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19002757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiBlu/pseuds/NikkiBlu
Summary: Around 50,000 Humans of the old kind still survive in Orchid, having turned the place into a massive city-fortress. They are struggling with food shortages, a constant lack of resources and the deadly attacks of the unpredictable krell.But Orchid is also home to ten times as many Spirits.Despite their numbers, the Spirits - mass-produced A.I.s in small, organic bodies - find themselves at the very bottom of society. It’s up to them to do all the basic work, from farming to maintenance and construction.Kina works as a salvager. Every day she has to risk her life in the Depths, the endless, labyrinthine tunnel system deep below Orchid, searching for lost technology and forgotten scrap metal.One day, something unusual is found. Soon after, she notices strange things are starting to happen…What difference can a little Spirit make in this world? Kina has learned that even though Humans are holy, they cannot be trusted.Or can they?





	1. Going Down

**Author's Note:**

> Updated version of my second story. I'm still working on part 3.
> 
> Artworks by Xamuart!  
> https://www.deviantart.com/xamuart

Kina stared through the window of the train that was getting her out of the Spirit District in Low City, and towards Tower 5. Monotonous-looking housing complexes were replaced by an industrial zone, eventually followed by a Human residential sector with buildings in a wild mix of styles. They were mostly based on old cultures that were erased from this world more than six hundred years ago. The Humans still believed that one day, they would need these designs again.

But Kina didn’t really see any of this as it was passing by, entirely lost in thought. Usually, a shift like today would be something she was looking forward to, easy work where little could go wrong. But not this time.

When she arrived at her station she wasn’t exactly in a hurry to get off the train, unlike all the other Spirits and a few Humans, who were on the way to wherever they had to go on this dreary morning. When a cold breeze hit her she shivered, and took the last sip of vegetable broth from her insulated cup and sighed from the little bit of liquid warmth.

She made her way into the Tower and past the checkpoint, with its Deep Order knights and their turrets and fortifications, all facing the big elevator shafts. Ever since the Humans had started exploring the endless tunnel systems below Orchid, they had been terrified of something awful crawling up from it.

A few times, they had been proven right. But usually, the things living in the Depths stayed where they belonged.

Kina tried not to think about any of this when she stepped into the elevator that would take her down hundreds of levels to her workplace.

 

 

“It’s not like you to be late, Kina.” Mr. Yong, her Human supervisor, had a stern look on his face. Yong was in his late fifties, middle-aged by Orchidian standards, and twice as long in this life as Kina had even existed. He was wearing his usual midnight-blue work clothing and glasses. The latter mostly for their AR-functionality, as his eyes were perfectly fine.

Kina just grumbled an apology and something about “bathroom” in response.

He sighed. “Look, I know this isn’t easy, but that’s just how it is now. Come on, we’ve been through worse than this.”

Kina swallowed a snarky comment regarding the ‘we’ and shrugged. “Did you at least tell him?”

“We’re leaving this one to you.”

“Oh, thank you very much!”

He ignored her sarcasm and turned to leave. “Alright, enough time wasted. Come.”

 

In the room was another Spirit and a knight. Like herself, the former looked like any other Spirit of the ‘kobold’ type that was so ubiquitous in Orchid. Small, furry, long ears. Face looking a little animalistic. Overall they looked a bit like an Old World animal called a rabbit, although Kina had never seen a living one.

Just like herself, this one was wearing the typical blue overalls of the salvagers, with the symbol of Orchid on the back. It came with lots of pockets, and a full set of salvager equipment, including dismantling tools and emergency bio-protection. His fur was lighter than her own, brown one. Almost blonde, even.

The knight wore the typical light armor and markings of the Deep Order, the simple downwards-pointing arrow inside a circle. Unlike the heavier armor used by the knights on the wall, this version wasn’t powered, although it still offered environmental protection. The helmet was closed as usual, with its rounded faceplate mostly smooth, except for the optical sensors. The knight was armed with the obligatory plasma carbine and a bandolier of grenades. Standard equipment for tunnel-fighting.

“Alright, this is Kina.” said Mr. Yong. “Kina, this is Squire Erika Teubner.”

The knight raised her hand. “Hello.”

“Where are Johnson and Clovis?” asked Kina.

“She’s Johnson’s replacement. Clovis called in sick.”

“So we just got one knight? And a newbie, too? You know the protocols.”

Yong sighed. “Yes, of course. Doesn’t matter, you’ll be fine. This sector is pretty much secured anyway. I want this finished today.”

“Well that’s just great.”

“Don’t be like that, Kina.”

“U-uhm.” The other Spirit spoke up. “Hello, I’m Miji.”

She threw him a look. “Yes, I know.”

“O-oh, right, they told you about me, haha. Still, it’s nice to meet you, Kina.” He came over and offered his hand. She took it reluctantly.

“Yeah...yeah. Hello Miji.”

“Alright then!” proclaimed Yong, while entering something into his pad. “Kina, I’ll leave the rest to you. Let’s hope everything goes smoothly so we can start clearing out this level tomorrow.”

“Can’t say we found much.”

“I still want all of it. Now get going, I need to take care of my reports.” He left the three and headed towards his temporary office.

Kina massaged the back of her neck. The skin around her metallic interface plates always seemed to get itchy when she was stressed out. Some kind of minor production error, not serious enough for Maintenance to care about.

“So, uhm...are we going now?” asked Miji. “What exactly is our job, anyway?”

She sighed. “Alright, just follow me. I’ll explain along the way. I don’t like repeating myself so pay attention.”

 

\----------

 

“So anyway. Today we’re just doing a last sweep to make sure we didn’t overlook anything. Other teams are already doing the same in their own sectors. If all goes well we’ll start getting everything out tomorrow. After that we’ll seal up this entire level before we continue with the next one below.”

“Get everything out…” Miji looked around the concrete tunnel they were walking through. “What are we getting out? There’s nothing.”

“Well, there’s always this.” She pointed up.

“Uh...the ceiling?”

“The lamps!” she snapped. “The wiring, pipes and grates and all that crap! It’s metal, so it’s valuable. We’ll tear it all out and get it up to the surface for recycling.”

“Ooh! But, can we just do that? Is that really okay? Doesn’t this belong to someone?”

“Not really. We’ve been doing this for centuries. These sectors are dead, there is no automated maintenance here. The Governor has abandoned these areas, and the Watch doesn’t care, either. So we just scavenge whatever we can get.”

“But...if there’s no automated maintenance, why does the lighting still work?”

Kina raised her ears a bit at the first somewhat smart question the other Spirit asked. “Well, this entire place is build to last forever. But yes, we had dark areas before. We’re just lucky with this level. Makes work easier.”

They kept walking, the knight at the front with the Spirits following her. Kina constantly had an eye on her map, giving directions and crossing out tunnels and rooms when necessary.

“Alright, kids, I’m going to show you something.” Kina pointed down to a tunnel that led to their right. “Watch your step with this one.”

They followed the tunnel until it just ended right after a turn, into what appeared to be a void with no floor and no ceiling.

“Whoa!” shouted Miji, and even the quiet knight cursed under her breath. They very carefully looked down over the edge into the darkness.

“How deep does this go?”

“No idea. Feel free to jump if you want to find out.”

“Yeah...no thank you, haha. Wow, this is scary.” He anxiously looked around into the distance, but the other walls of the enormous room were too far away to be seen, supporting the impression they were at the edge of an endless nothingness. Only a few faint lights could be made out far in the distance, indicating other tunnel exits.

“It’s even scarier when you remember that there are more of those shafts,” said Kina. “So pay attention where you’re walking, you wouldn’t be the first to disappear into one. Oh, and the anglers and tunnel worms are using them to move around, so don’t spend your break time here.”

“What? Oh gods, anglers...can we please get away from here?”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly my favourite spot, either.”

“Have you ever seen an angler?” asked the knight as they went back into the tunnel. Kina turned to her. That was the first time she had actually said anything after their introduction. “A couple of times, yes. Mostly when I looked back while running away.”

“They showed us some combat footage back in training. Damn, these things are ugly up close.” Kina raised an eyebrow as the knight talked. This voice…

“D-do they really eat Spirits?” Miji nervously looked back towards the huge shaft.

“The big ones can even eat Humans,” answered the knight with a calm voice. “Although not one with armor.”

“B-but...you’re going to protect us, right?”

“Sure, that’s why I’m here. To babysit Spirits and kill monsters.”

“You’re a volunteer?” asked Kina, suddenly changing the topic.

“Well, uh...s-something like that…”

“So no. Just wondering. I could be wrong, but you sound pretty young.”

“Well, yeah? So what?”

“Ah, let me guess. You failed those exams and then it turned out you were sterile.”

“Wha-! Why, how-”

“Hah!” She grinned and crossed her arms behind her head, gratified that she had managed to provoke the Human. “Ah, don’t worry. That story is not uncommon down here. Used to work with a guy with the same one not too long ago.”

The knight took a moment to calm down. “Okay, really? Used to? What happened to him?”

“Well, he made it. Finished his ten years and went back to civilian life.” She shrugged. “No idea what he’s up to now. Probably living the life up in the Tower.”

“I...see.”

“So...did you at least make those tests or did they cut you up?”

The knight paused for a moment. “Yeah, right! _Me_ , passing the physical tests! Do you have any idea how hard these are? Well, no. I got the full frame. Arms, legs, that thing with the spine. Still hurts from time to time.”

“Oh dear…” Miji sounded sympathetic.

“Well then!” Kina clapped her hands. “Welcome to the underground, with the rest of the weirdos and losers!”

The knight didn’t answer. Even with the armor and closed helmet, Kina could tell that she was uneasy.

She probably shouldn’t overdo it. “Alright. Let’s just go on, okay?” she offered. “We still have a lot of ground to cover.”

“Fine.”

 

\----------

 

“What was that?” Miji seemed startled. “Hey, who’s there?”

“What is it?” Kina glanced to where he was looking, but didn’t see anything unusual. They had arrived at some kind of larger room with a series of perfectly cube-shaped pillars, but aside from that there was nothing but the usual concrete walls.

“There’s someone there.”

“We’re the only ones in this area.”

“I swear I saw a person over there!” He pointed uneasily.

“Hey, Human! Did you see anything?” asked Kina.

“No.”

“Alright, so it was nothing.”

“Nothing!?” squealed Miji. “But-”

Kina sighed. “Electromagnetic interferences. We have a lot of those down here.”

“What are you talking about? There is-”

“Listen!” She turned to him and tapped his head. “This crap is strong enough to mess with your core. Your perception systems can glitch out, and sometimes it’s affecting memories as well. As long as you’re down here, you can see or hear or remember things that aren’t real.”

“What?!”

“Whenever it happens, just ask the Humans. They have brains, so they’re immune to this.”

“Oh...ohhh.” Finally he seemed to get it. ”Oh man. This is creepy.”

“Yes. I know.” She shrugged. “Just another thing we have to put up with.”

“Interferences...wh-where are they even coming from? Oh, hold on! Isn’t this big power thing somewhere down here? It’s because of that, right?”

“Now you get it.”

“What was it called again? Dimensional...something?”

“They call it the ‘Reality Mill’.”

“Oh, right! Hm, wait...” He pondered for a moment. ”Uh...how does that work, actually? Is it grinding realities?”

“We don’t know.” The knight answered before Kina could. “If I remember correctly, we only know its name from some log files someone stole hundreds of years ago. That’s literally all we got.” The armored woman shrugged. ”Exalted tech. Nobody knows what it does, how it works, or what it looks like. Even though we get all our energy from it. But the Watch doesn’t want us to get close to it, so we stay away. I don’t think a Human will ever see it. Or a Spirit. Or anything else.”

“Wow…” Miji looked amazed.

“It’s just another mystery in this place I guess.”

“There sure are a lot of those…”

“Okay kids, that’s enough,” Kina interrupted the two, starting to sound impatient, “we have to-”

“Would you please stop calling me that?” asked the knight, cutting her off in return, “You’re, like, half my size. And I bet I’m older than you, too.”

“I don’t think so. I’ve been active for 18 years straight.”

“Ha, see! I’ll be turning 20 next week. So who’s the kid now?”

“Wha- that, that’s not how this works! I was created as an adult! Your stupid childhood doesn’t count!”

“What? Of course it does, what are you talking about?”

“You really don’t get it? What are they teaching you these days?”

“Get what?”

“Well, by _my_ standards you’re like, what, two years old?”

The knight laughed out in disbelief. “What? Is this some kind of joke?”

“What’s so hard to get about this?”

“Oh man. What does a _Spirit_ know, anyway.”

“Don’t you dare dismiss me like that,” growled Kina, “ _Kid_.”

“You little…” The knight took a step towards her.

“Hey, hey…” Miji tried to sound calming while getting between them with his hands raised, “Please don’t fight. Kina, it’s not nice to call people things they don’t want to be called. And Ms. Teubner, Kina is still in charge here and the most experienced of us, so please take her seriously.”

The two grumbled and turned away from each other, but otherwise fell quiet.

“I mean, we’re all adults here, right? Even me, although I’m just one day old, haha...”

“No you’re not.” whispered Kina, and immediately regretted it.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

She turned to face him. _Might as well get it over with now._ “You don’t get it yet? Glad to see that you’re at least still an idiot.”

“I...I don’t understand, what do you-”

“Goddammit Miji! We’ve been working together for eight years! But then you had to get involved in some,” she made air quotes and her tone became mocking, “‘rebellious behaviour’, so guess what happened? They came and reset your memories.”

“Wh-what!? B-but, no, that can’t…you’re kidding, right?”

“ARGH!” she shouted in frustration while storming off.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Kina, did you know?”

“What?”

They were both at their favourite spot, a little clearing in one of the tree reserves in the Garden. People rarely found their way here, so it was usually very calm and peaceful. Kina often came to visit when she needed some quiet, but she also liked it when Miji came along to hang out with her.

He looked around as if he wanted to make sure they were alone and leaned over to her. “Someone I know from the other teams had found a book from the Old World. Somewhere in the Depths.”

“A book?”

“Yeah, and he read it.”

Kina’s eyes went wide. “What? He didn’t turn it in? But that’s-”

“Shh,” he hissed. “Yes, I know. Anyway, do you want to know what he learned?”

“Well, you seem to be excited about it.”

“It’s crazy, actually! You know about the Exalted, right?”

“Of course. Everyone does.” She looked in the direction of the towers, even though they were hidden from sight by the trees. “They build this entire place, after all.”

“Right! But!” If he didn’t sounded excited before, now he did for sure. “Did you know that they used to be Spirits, too? I mean, can you imagine that?”

“What...that makes no sense.”

“Apparently it’s true! You see, the book says that the Humans back then made them super smart and powerful and all, so they were entirely independent and free! But not only that, they made them so smart that they were able to, uh, _grow_! I’m not sure what that means yet, but apparently that was super important. And then, uhm, you know their symbol, right?” He didn’t wait for her answer, instead he quickly doodled it into the dirt.

“This eye thing?” she asked, observing him.

“That’s the point, actually. It’s not an eye! It’s a Spirit core. Look, here, there’s even the wiring and all.”

“No way.”

“And here, this.” He pointed at the jagged line inside the ‘eye’. “That...is a soul. You know, the spark of life and all that?”

“Miji, this is crazytalk. This is blasphemy.”

“Kina, just imagine! What if _we_ could become Exalted, too?”

“Holy crap, Miji! The Exalted are _gods_ ! We’re _Spirits_! We don’t have souls! We’re just small, and weak and stupid! And that’s all we'll ever be! That’s simply how it is!”

“No.” He shook his head. “I think you’re wrong! We could be way more than that, the Humans just don’t let us! But if we learn how this ‘growing’ works-”

“You should listen to yourself!”

He stood up straight and took a deep breath. “Kina. Listen. There will be a meeting later, at a hidden spot not far from here. You know the village of Canaan? It’s at the lake a few hundred meters towards the wall.”

An anxious feeling rushed over her. “What...meeting?”

He shrugged. “You know. Where we discuss this kind of thing and stuff. He will be there, too, with the book.”

Kina shot up and looked around. She tried her hardest not to shout. “Miji, no! If the SPS learns about this…”

“They won’t! Don’t worry, it will be fine! Anyway, the reason I’m telling you all this is because I think you should come, too. You also deserve to learn the truth.”

“The truth? What truth?! You goddamn idiot! I don’t know what crap this guy thinks he saw in some rotten old book, but this makes no sense! Even you should be able to see that!”

“So...I guess you’re not coming?”

“No! Of course not!” Kina struggled not to shout too loud. “I want nothing to do with this! And you shouldn’t go, either!”

“I will go! I have to! I need to know more about this!”

She shook her head, thoughts racing, still not believing what she was hearing. She knew Miji wasn’t the brightest, but this… “Please...Miji...just...just let’s go home, okay? We’ll go home, I’ll order some nice food, you can pick, and then we just-”

“No! Kina, come on, you’re always so smart. I thought you of all people would understand this! Sorry, looks like I was wrong. I...I will leave now. See you tomorrow I guess.”

“Miji, no, please…” she begged.

He turned and left her standing. For a while, she waited on the clearing, desperately hoping he would come back, mind changed. But he didn’t.

 

She was in her little apartment, back in the Spirit District in Low City. High, utilitarian buildings made to house hundreds of thousands of Spirits. Most about as grey as her current thoughts. She tried telling herself that everything would be fine and distracted herself by cleaning her humble kitchen, even though it was already clean.

_Why am I even so worried?_

It was just some silly meeting, where people talked for a bit. That by itself was not illegal! He’d just come back a bit later, and tomorrow would be another completely normal work day. Right?

It was already past bedtime.

 

She winced when someone hammered at the door.

“Spirit Protection Service! Open immediately!” shouted someone.

_No. Nonono._ With a painful sting in her neck and her heart racing, she opened the door. A Human woman wearing a black coat and holding a badge up stepped in without waiting for an invitation. Kina couldn’t think straight enough to catch the name, although she noticed her dark, metallic hands. Ex-knight, probably.

“Good evening. 605-386, ‘Kina’?”

“Y-yes.”

“615-2097, ‘Miji’, is your coworker, correct?”

She nodded.

The Human closed the door behind her and took a moment to let her eyes sweep across the room. Apparently satisfied, she sat down in the big, rarely-used chair Kina had for Human guests.

“Wh-what happened? Is he in trouble?”

“We’ll have to see about that. When was the last time you saw him?”

“That...today. After work.”

“Did he say where he was going?”

“Uhm, well,” Kina stammered, unsettled by the woman’s cold stare. “I mean, no…I-I’m not sure....”

The Human took a sharp breath and sighed. “Listen. I don’t have time for any nonsense. This might actually be serious enough. I could authorize a memory pull.” She let the last sentence linger.

Kina unwittingly let her hand wander to the back of her neck, feeling the interface. The thought of some strangers poking through her deepest memories…

“I don’t want this, you don’t want this,” the Human continued, “but I will do it if I feel like I have to. You get that?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good. So, did he say where he was going or not?”

Kina closed her eyes. It was pointless. It was always pointless. They’d learn it anyways. And so she talked.

 

“The Exalted being...Spirits, huh? Curious idea.” The SPS agent didn’t even look at Kina, instead she was checking something on her small data pad.

“I t-told him it was n-nonsense but he didn’t want to listen...”

The Human let out a pained sigh, lowered the device and looked back at Kina. “As you should know, the Exalted have abandoned us. And yet, now more than ever, we could use their help. If we could simply make a new one, by taking some random Spirit and upgrading it, we would’ve done it ages ago.”

“R-right...”

The Human leaned forward, elbows on her thighs. Kina had trouble withstanding her powerful gaze. “We’re on the edge of a knife here. So we all have to do our part. Humans and Spirits alike. We know it’s not always easy, but we have to stay determined, otherwise we’re all doomed. All of us. You understand that, right?”

Kina nodded, looking at the ground in front of her, grasping her left upper arm with her right hand.

“I don’t know what’s with this conspiracy nonsense. This whole thing is probably about something else entirely. But we’ll see soon enough. Anyway, thank you for your cooperation.”

With that, she got up and left.

 

The next time Kina saw Miji, he greeted her as if they had never met before.


	2. The Nameless Sector

“H-hey, are you sure about this?” He had caught up to her.

“Yes.” She answered without looking at him.

“I mean, it’s just...it doesn’t feel like anything is missing…”

She stopped and turned to face him. “Use your damn core for once! Why do you think you’re down here, when all the new ones start out in the Garden or the City?”

“O-oh. Yeah. Now that you mention it…”

“Dammit, Miji…” The anger in her voice had disappeared.

He looked crestfallen, ears drooping even more than usual. “What...what was it, actually? What did I even do?”

“I don’t really know. I didn’t want to know. If you had told me, they would’ve reset me, too.”

“Oh. Damn. And now you’re angry, huh.”

Kina just looked to the side, massaging the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry.” he continued. “I don’t even know what I did, but I guess I deserve that you hate me now.”

“Hate you?” Kina looked back and into his eyes. “I never, ever hated you, Miji,” she said with her voice lowered, “and I never will, no matter what. Also, I’m the one who should be sorry.”

_ Because I was the one who told on you _ . 

She knew she should at least tell him that. But as hard as she tried, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not now, not here. She avoided his gaze.

“Kina…”

“Just...don’t be an idiot again, okay?” She somehow managed to smile even though her eyes felt wet.

“‘Don’t be an idiot’...alright, that can’t be so hard. I think I can do that!”

Kina sighed with relief. “Let’s just go, okay?”

 

“Still, I can’t believe they just went and took away all my memories.” said Miji while they walked through another corridor that didn’t seem to end. The knight had fallen silent again, apparently not interested in their conversations.

“An old friend of mine once said, for us Spirits, memories are a privilege, not a right.”

“Ouch...putting it like that...although...I guess it’s true, huh. Who was your friend?”

“Yon, an old Spirit in the Garden. A teacher, of sorts,” she explained; “helping me and many others to make sense of this world. She always seemed to know everything.”

“Wow. Like, for example?”

Kina shrugged. “I don’t know. Many things...although I guess, I always liked how she explained the Human nature. Like the thing with the beast and such. She somehow understood them better than any of us.”

“Beast? What’s the beast?”

“Uh, that’s, that’s just how she explained it...it went like...I mean, you know how our cores work, right? We have a consciousness, we can form memories and learn, even have a spectrum of emotions and all that.”

“Right.”

“But the cores were designed from the ground up, all the different parts, to do exactly what they’re supposed to do. Human brains are also made of different parts, but they have evolved over millions of years, and some parts are actually much older than others. Hold on.” She took a moment to carefully check her map, making sure they were still where they were supposed to be. “Mhm, right...anyway. These old parts are still influencing them, so you hear them talk about ‘instinct’ and ‘gut feeling’ and such weird things. But that’s also why they get so...strange when they’re really angry, scared or desperate and all that. Because that’s when their old animal parts take over and they can’t properly think anymore. That’s when ‘the beast comes out’. That’s how she put it.”

“Whoa…” Miji looked impressed.

“Yeah, uh, I don’t know how true that actually is.” She scratched the back of her neck. “But it does match up with what I’ve seen so far, so…”

“So what that means is, they’re basically all...part animal?”

“I guess you could put it like that.”

“And yet they managed to create gods…”

“Yes. That’s why they’re holy.”

“Oh man...now I wonder if they have to, I don’t know, constantly struggle to keep this weird beast in check? Do they have to, like, mentally fight it or something?”

“You know I can hear you?” asked the knight suddenly, startling him.

“O-oh!” he stammered. “Right, sorry about that, haha. So, uhm...if I may ask...how is it?”

The Human stopped walking, and the Spirits followed suit. Slowly, she turned around and stood still for a moment. Then, without warning, she threw her arms up and took a quick step forward. “Rawr!”

Miji shrieked and fell backwards, and even Kina retreated a step, failing to hide her surprise. The Human just laughed and turned back, going on without waiting for the Spirits.

“Whoa...was that...the beast?” asked Miji after he got back up. 

Kina just groaned and slapped her hand against her forehead.

 

They had reached a much smaller, but still bottomless shaft with a round shape, like the inside of a very large, vertical pipe. The tunnel went right through it, turning into a narrow bridge with no railing to cross it. Damp, warm air was coming up from it, and the walls of the shaft, as well as the surrounding tunnels, were dripping wet. All surfaces were overgrown with mold and large patches of a strange blue moss. The shaft had no lighting, but the moss emitted a faint glow, illuminating the place a little.

“What is that?” asked the knight, but continued without waiting for an answer. “It’s kind of beautiful, actually. Except for those...things.” She obviously meant the small, slimy creatures that were seen everywhere, between the moss. They had a dark reddish-brown to almost black color.

“Galvanic leeches.” explained Kina. “Notice their patterns? They’re aligning themselves to the magnetic fields for reasons nobody understands. When the fields shift, they will move, too. The moss also lives off the excess energy somehow.”

“Eww.”

“The anglers eat the leeches, so let’s not stick around for too long. Human, check above first. They like to wait in ambush overhead. Hurry when you cross, but be careful, the ground is slippery. Don’t fall, or you’re lost. Nobody will come to find you.”

 

\----------

 

“Dear Exalted, this entire place is a total labyrinth,” commented the knight.

“Finally, someone noticed it,” snarked Kina in response.

“What purpose does it have to begin with?” wondered Miji. “All those tunnels and shafts and rooms…all abandoned?”

“There are many areas that are still used for...something. Mostly towards the center of this place. Of course, we’re not welcome there, and can’t get close. As for the abandoned areas…” she shrugged. “The best theory we got is that they served their purpose during the construction of the lower parts of Orchid. It seems to go down pretty damn deep.”

“So that’s it?” asked the Human. “We’re looking for random crap some construction workers have forgotten down here ages ago?”

“Pretty much, yes. Although I doubt the Exalted used regular construction workers for all this.”

The knight groaned with frustration. “This sucks.”

“You’ll learn to love it,” teased Kina.

The knight refused to respond to that. ”What’s this?” she asked instead, vaguely pointing with her gun at a bunch of rubble.

“What does it look like? It’s a collapsed tunnel. You know, lacking maintenance and all?”

The Human made an annoyed sound. ”Oh, really? You don’t say! I mean, what’s behind it?”

Kina swallowed her desire to annoy the knight further, and instead checked her map. “Hmm right. Usually we clear them out, but in this case it seems to be a dead end. There’s another tunnel somewhere behind it, but they never meet. I actually remember asking Yong for some machinery for it, but he just said it’s a waste of time and that was it. Come on, let’s go.”

Kina went on, and Miji followed her, but the Human just kept standing there, staring at the debris. When Kina heard a sound, she turned around. The knight had put her gun down and was holding a big chunk of concrete, which she tossed to the side with little effort.

“What are you doing?” asked Kina.

“Let’s see what’s behind this! Come, if we do this together it shouldn’t take long.”

“That kind of work is not your job! You’re not even allowed to put your weapon down!”

“So?”

Kina was perplexed for a moment. Most knights never helped until asked, and even then they tended to tell her to ‘go her way’ in ugly words. 

When Miji went to help, she followed.

“Why do you even want to know so badly what’s behind this?”

“Hmm, I dunno...a gut feeling?”

“Ooh!” Miji sounded excited. “That means ‘the beast’ is talking to you, right? What does it sound like? What is it saying?”

The knight just chuckled, Kina groaned and shook her head. But she also couldn’t help but smile for a second.

 

“Alright, I think I can fit through here. Let me just…”

“Miji, wait! It’s still dangerous!” Kina warned, sounding worried. But he had already slipped through. “Miji!”

“Ah, crap!”

“What is it? Is everything okay?!”

“It’s dark! There’s no light in here.”

A sigh of relief. “Oh man. Use your lamp!”

“Oh, right!” A moment passed. ”Huh.”

“Well don’t leave us hanging. What do you see?”

“Stairs. They lead down.”

“Stairs?!” Kina’s eyes went wide and her ears perked up. “To the next level, maybe? Oh cosmos...Miji, this is unsecured territory. Do NOT go down there, do you hear me?”

“Yes, don’t worry. I’m not going into some creepy dark tunnel by myself, I’m not  _ that _ stupid. Hold on, I’ll help clear this from my side.”

“Looks like your ‘gut feeling’ was right, Human.”

“I have a name, you know.”

“Yeah, right...what was it again?”

“Erika Teubner.”

“Ms. Teubner.”

“Just call me Erika.”

Kina stopped working for a moment to look at her. She still didn’t know what her face looked like under that helmet, and yet… “Alright. I’m Kina, just in case you didn’t catch that yet.”

“Don’t worry. It was hard to miss.”

 

It took a while, but eventually they managed to create an opening even the armored Human could fit through.

“Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, tell anyone about this first?” asked, Miji sounding a bit scared. “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to just go down there…”

Kina stared down the stairs, trying to see anything, but her lamp didn’t reach far enough. Just steps leading into a black void. “We...will tell. Of course. But first, let’s at least take a look.”

“Are you sure? This is kind of scary…”

“Listen, I tell you how it goes. If we find something good, we’ll get a reward. If it’s  _ really _ good, we might even get transferred to a better position! Like, for example,  _ anywhere but this place _ . If we now leave and tell, they’ll come back with others, the area gets properly searched, and there goes our big chance.”

“But...going into unsecured area…”

“Yes, I know. Of course we’re not  _ supposed _ to do that. If we find anything we’ll just close this tunnel back off, and say we picked it up elsewhere. Nobody will ever know. You’re with us, Hu-, uhm, Erika?”

The knight just shrugged. “Sure, lead the way.”

“Wait a second, you’re not recording this, are you?”

“And get myself in trouble, too?”

“Alright then, let’s-”  _ CRACK!  _ She winced at the loud noise. “Augh! What the- did you hear anything?”

The other two just shook their heads.

“...okay, glitch. Let’s go.”

 

“These stairs go on for way too long if you ask me,” said Erika over her shoulder. She was at the front, as usual, but this time she had her gun charged up and ready, lighting ahead with the lamp mounted on it. This was more for the convenience of the Spirits, since of course her helmet had night vision.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ve seen much crazier pieces of architecture down here. They’re going to lead somewhere, no doubt.” Kina tried to exude confidence, but she was getting nervous as well. This wasn’t just a lower sector in the same level, nor was it leading to the next one. Or the one below that.

She was pretty sure that they must’ve bypassed at least three levels by now. Then four. Then five. Then she lost track, but the stairs just kept going on and on. Until, eventually…

 

“There!” Erika sounded relieved. “The end, I think. And...a room.”

“An empty room.” stated Miji, while they were shining their lamps around. The only sources of light here. Everything beyond their limited spotlights was black. The kind of suffocating pitch black that made a moonless night seem welcoming and bright. 

“There’s some more tunnels, though.”

“Do we even want to know what’s in those?” Erika was starting to sound nervous as well. “I was up for a peek, but this whole thing is getting a little creepy, to be honest.”

“We can’t just give up yet,” demanded Kina. “Let’s look around a bit more!”

“Th-there’s a door.” 

Kina’s ears perked up and she turned around to where Miji was shining his lamp. “Oh boy. Doors are rare. We have to check this!”

Erika carefully walked over and grabbed the handle. When she pressed it down it broke off with a crumbling noise. “Damn. This thing is steel, I think. Totally rusted shut, though.”

Kina cursed.

“K-Kina, let’s go back. We’ll report this and-”

“Hold on.” Erika took a step back, took aim and kicked the door with full force, making Miji wince with the loud noise. 

“I don’t know if this is such a good-”

She kicked again and again. The door started to budge, big flakes of rust falling off of it. A few more kicks and it broke down. “There! Man, maybe these new legs aren’t so bad, after all.”

“W-we could bring the door back!” suggested Miji. “That’s a big chunk of metal, right?”

Kina nudged his shoulder. “Hey, you’re learning.”

“Holy crap!” shouted Erika, already having entered the room behind the door, scouting ahead.

“What?”

“There’s someone there!”


	3. Mistakes

“Is that a Human?” asked Miji.

“Looks like it,” answered Erika.

“Are they dead?”

“Looks like it.”

“What were they doing so far down here...how did they even get to this place?”

Since the other two apparently didn’t want to move closer, Kina went over to investigate. “I think that’s a woman, but...oh cosmos…”

“What?”

From the skin she could see, the corpse seemed to be completely dried out and mummified.

“Looks like she’s been dead for decades...or centuries? What kind of clothing is that? It looks still new...”

“You think she’s from the Old World?”

Kina shuddered at the realization. “It could be…”

Finally, the others came over. Miji helped her investigate, while the knight was swinging her gun around to check the rest of the room and the way they came. She was visibly nervous.

“Is that a mask?”

“Seems like it...I’ll be damned. Miji, look!” She pointed at the symbol on the forehead.

“Oh, it’s that Exalted eye, right?”

“Really? You think that means she’s an Operator?” wondered Erika.

“A what?”

“You don’t know? We learned that in history. In the Old World, the Exalted used them to interact with the normal people and stuff like that. I think they were even called ‘Angels’ back then.”

“We have to search her.” Kina decided immediately.

“I’m not touching that!”

“Miji, please. Think! She might have Exalted tech! That’s the big jackpot! Just help me already!”

“Can’t she do it?” He gestured towards the knight. “She’s wearing gloves and armor and everything!”

“Hell no,” refused Erika. “If there’s anything alive down here, then we attracted it by breaking down that door. I’ll keep standing watch, you guys hurry up already.”

“But-”

“Miji, dammit!” prompted Kina.

He finally gave in. “Ok fine…”

“Check her jacket. Oh hey, there’s something on her arm...damn, how do you get this off…”

Suddenly, the lights went on.

“What the-”

“Security status of local area updated. Please stand by…” The voice sounded like a nervous Human girl, but it was hard to say where exactly it was coming from.

“Who said that?!” Erika was on high alert. “Show yourself!”

“Watch!” shouted Kina. “It’s the Watch! Be careful with what you say!”

“Human brain signature detected. Basic access level confirmed. Level sufficient for physical presence in local area. Welcome, Human! Please enjoy your stay! Other two sentient entities of interest, we are terribly sorry, but no access level could be verified. Please vacate premises immediately, or we will be forced to engage countermeasures.” The contrast between the innocence of the voice and what it said was deeply unsettling.

“Erika,” called Kina, “you have to extend your clearance level to us!”

“What? But...how do I-”

“Human, do you wish to extend ‘basic level’ to the other two sentient entities present?”

“Yes! Just say yes!”

“Uh, yes!”

“Confirmed. Temporary ‘basic level’ access granted. Token will expire in 24 hours. Welcome, please enjchrrrrkkt-”

“Ahh! What is even happening right now?” Miji sounded frightened, as he got up and backed away from the body. “I don’t understand any of this!”

“Security status of local area updated. All entities possessing ‘basic level’ access, we are terribly sorry, but your right to remain physically present in this area has has been revoked. Please vacate premises immediately, or we will be forced to engage countermeasures.”

As it was saying these words, something that looked like black ooze came out of the ceiling, quickly forming a sphere apparently floating in mid-air. It’s silhouette rippled with random, symmetric patterns. The liquid was so perfectly black, it almost looked like a hole in reality. Several “beams” shot out of it to various spots in the room, starting to construct something from the ground up, millimeter by millimeter.

“Run!” screamed Kina, already starting to sprint back to the room with the stairs. When the others didn’t move, she turned back. “Hurry! They’ll kill us!”

Fortunately, they snapped out of their shock and followed her.

 

This time, the Spirits were in front scrambling up the stairs, while the knight did her job and covered their back.

“How did this happen? What is going on? Is it because-”

“Shut up and save your breath, Miji!”

“I think something is following us.” called Erika from behind.

“Oh please no-”

“Should I shoot?”

“NO! Bad idea! Stop looking back, just run!”

 

“Are we safe?” asked Miji after they had reached the top, out of breath. They had just passed the improvised passage through the formerly collapsed section.

His question was answered by something crashing through the rubble from the other side, sending debris flying everywhere and kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Startled, the Human and the two Spirits doubled their efforts at running, fleeing through the corridor in pure panic.

 

“Which way? Kina!”

The tunnel ahead of the three was splitting. 

Kina scrambled to get her map out. “Uhh...left. Go left!”

“Alright!”

“Wait, no! Not left, anything but left! Crap!”

“Calm down, I think it’s over.” said Erika, out of breath. “Whatever this was, it’s gone now.”

“What...what was it?” Miji was still trying to catch his breath as well. ”What happened? What was that voice? And that black stuff?”

“Congratulations,” chimed Kina with false excitement, although still catching her breath. “You just saw one of the great miracles of Orchid. The Watch generating enforcement units right in front of our eyes. Not many people have seen it. Most of those who did, didn’t survive.”

“B-but they wouldn’t really have killed us, right? Erika is a knight, she would’ve fought them and protected us. Right?” 

“Haha, good one.” Kina shot a glance at Erika, who remained entirely silent. “Last time the knights tried to fight the Watch, the entire unit got wiped out.” She turned to the knight. “Isn’t that right?”

“You’re not even supposed to know that.” Her voice was stone cold.

“Heh, yeah I guess it’s a bit of a sore spot-” she fell silent when Miji grabbed her. Any hint of amusement vanished from her face when she saw his eyes full of tears.

“So we really almost died just now? The Watch can just kill us whenever it feels like it? Is that how it is? This is insane, what are we even doing down here, we have to...I mean…we can’t just...” He trailed off, starting to sob.

“It’s fine, come on Miji.” She grabbed his shoulders and shook him lightly. “It’s over now, we’re safe. I know what to do, we have protocols for this. We will put this area on lockdown. Nobody is going to get hurt, okay?”

“O-okay…” He tried to calm himself down.

“Ah, crap!” Kina let go of him and turned to punch the wall in a sudden burst of anger. ”I couldn’t even get the damn device off. Miji, did you get anything?”

“Uh, uhm...I think I felt something boxy under her jacket but I couldn’t get to it fast enough and so I only-”

“Is  _ this _ really all you care about, Kina?” snapped Erika suddenly.

“Wha- no! Of course not! I just…” she groaned, closed her eyes and massaged the back of her neck, trying to sort her thoughts. When she opened them again she saw the knight stomping away through the corridor, grumbling something to herself.

“Hey, wait! What are you doing, we’re not supposed to split up!”

“Whatever! I’m done!”

“You can’t just- this place is a maze! Come back!”

“Huh?” Miji made a confused sound. “That’s odd.”

“Humans, dammit!”

“No, I mean, it’s just, I’m seeing this really weird glitch right now and...man, that looks pretty crazy, haha.”

Kina followed his gaze, towards the left tunnel. 

 

She saw it as well.

 

“Angler!!!” she screamed, but it was too late.

A white, jagged dart the size of her arm, connected to a slimy thread, suddenly stuck out of Miji’s chest. He made a pained, confused sound as he was yanked forward and pulled in like a harpooned fish, right into the angler’s waiting tentacles. The creature began to withdraw into the tunnel with its prey. 

“Miji, no!” shouted Kina, running recklessly after him. Seconds later, heavy steps caught up to her from behind, and Erika ran past her. When the knight had reached the next corner she stopped for a moment and raised her weapon, taking aim at something out of Kina’s sight.

“No! Don’t shoot, you’ll hit him!”

Erika cursed and kept giving chase instead. Kina followed as fast as she could, struggling to keep up with the long, powerful legs of the Human.

 

“Watch out, Erika! There’s another big shaft right ahead of us!” she shouted.

The knight cursed some more as they arrived at the end of the tunnel, immediately trying to find the angler with her light. Kina lost it.

“Mijiii! Miji, come back to me! Where are you!?”

Erika apparently saw something in the distance and fired. For a second, the blindingly bright plasma bolt illuminated the entire, enormous shaft like a tiny sun, then it dissolved. She fired again and then a third time. One of the shots must have hit. A pained screech echoed through the shaft. But the angler was already too far away, sliding deeper into the darkness with its gliding membrane. At that distance, the plasma had cooled down too much to do any real damage to the leathery tissue of the creature.

“Stop shooting, dammit! Miji! Mijiiii!!!”

“Let’s leave. I think saw more of them. Or something else, I’m not sure.”

“No! We can’t, we have to-”

“Whatever it is, it’s coming.”

“I don’t care! We have to-”

The knight grabbed the struggling Spirit and dragged her away, screaming and crying.


	4. A Night in the City

On the next day, in the temporary headquarter in the underground, Kina was explaining Erika some of the protocols they would use to deal with the new Watch zone. The knight was sitting down on a bench with her helmet open to better listen. It was the first time Kina saw her face. She noted the light skin and a strand of blonde hair, but otherwise nothing special. Humans looked pretty samey to her. Her facial recognition abilities were good enough to tell them apart, but not much else.

Yong came in, prompting a couple of procrastinating Spirits to hurry out of the room to get to their work.

“Hey,” barked the supervisor in the direction of Kina and Erika. “Is the new one still not here?”

Kina turned around. “You already ordered a replacement for Miji?”

The male Human looked at her with a neutral face and fixed his glasses. “Yesterday.”

Kina swallowed a snarky response and took a deep breath. “Nobody new has come in today,” she finally answered with a calm voice.

Yong did some quick, snappy movements with his hand and fingers, controlling whatever he was seeing with his AR-glasses. He noticed something and pressed his lips together. Kina had learned that meant he was getting angry.

“A last-minute change...of course. And no notification. These idiots still think they can do whatever they want. Do they think what we’re doing here is a joke? Ugh. Great job, Kina. Thanks for all the extra paperwork.”

“Can you ease it up a bit?” asked Erika. “She had just lost a friend.”

The supervisor turned his head and gave her a weird look. “Right. Great job, you, then. Losing a Spirit on your first day. What am I supposed to tell your supervisor, hm?”

“How about the part where you ignored protocols, sending me out alone?”

Yong made a closing gesture to dismiss his software and came over in a few, large steps, positioning himself in front of the sitting knight. 

“Careful, missy,” he growled.

Erika calmly stood up, straightening herself to her full height. Even with her armor and helmet, she was smaller than Yong, but she had no trouble withstanding his gaze.

“Or what?” she asked.

Kina remained anxiously quiet, having learned long ago not to get between Humans and their little fights and mind games. The best thing a Spirit could do was to keep their head down and wait for it to blow over.

Yong stared at Erika for a few seconds before he started grinning. “Well, be more careful, or you might lose more of them. Then again, yeah, so what? A bit of extra paperwork? No big deal, part of the job. Good thing they’re so easily replaceable,  _ right _ ?” He gave her a slap on the shoulder that made her breath weird for a second.

“Hello! Sorry I’m late,” said a voice suddenly.

Everybody turned around at the newcomer, another Spirit with silvery-grey fur.

“I’m Kun and I was sent here…” his face became confused when he saw the scene. “Did I interrupt something?”

 

After Kina had used the opportunity to quickly get everyone out, the three were back in the tunnels, towards the expected edge of the newly created Watch zone.

“What is this guy’s problem?” ranted Erika. “Why is he such a jerk?”

“Well, he’s a Human,” joked Kina, before realizing who she was talking to. “Sorry,” she added.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it…” said Erika, not sounding angry but tired.

“Would anyone care to explain to me what’s happening?” asked Kun, the new Spirit. “I have literally no idea what’s going on.”

Kina pulled herself together. “Right. Welcome to the salvagers. You know what we do down here?”

“Sure. Until yesterday I worked up in the city, in one of the steel mills. We got most of our metal from you guys. Lots of really old looking stuff, but great quality. So I guess I now help to collect it?”

“Pretty much.” Kina gave the Spirit a second look. “Until yesterday? What happened?”

“Oh, I,” Kun scratched his ear, “let’s just say I messed up a shipment of spare parts. Uhm, did you know the Humans really don’t like it when you ruin their stuff?”

Kina managed to smirk. “You don’t say.”

His face lit up too. “Hah, really! You should’ve seen the supervisor. I’m lucky I was only thrown down here, instead of-” His shoulders dropped and the excitement vanished from his face. “Actually, that’s not funny at all.” He looked around curiously, even though there wasn’t much to see. “So what are we going to do today? Exciting adventures?”

“Careful what you wish for. You know what the Watch is?”

“Oh sure, I remember! It’s this automated defense system of Orchid, right? Supposedly it’s kind of unpredictable and it kills you in like a microsecond when you get it angry enough. Why?”

“Because that’s what we have to deal with now.”

“Haha...wait, are you serious?!”

 

\----------

Kina watched the elevator with a cart full of scrap and a group of other salvagers disappear towards the surface. Everyone was getting ready to finish the day.

“Man, I’m beat,” muttered Kun, leaning at the nearest wall before sliding down into a sitting position.

“Are we at least done with this?” asked Erika wearily.

“For today.” Kina turned around towards her. “Getting bored because we didn’t have a fight today?”

The knight shook her head. “No thanks. Probing the edges of this death zone was stressful enough. I had enough fighting for a while.”

“Well that’s a change.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You still haven’t met Clovis, haven’t you?”

“No. By the way Kina, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

Erika reached up and opened her helmet. The faceplate slid up and slightly back, revealing her face. The knight blinked and looked around. “Wow, I didn’t realize this room was so dark.”

Kun snorted. “I thought it was pretty obvious.”

“Her helmet has integrated lighting-correction,” explained Kina. “Broad daylight, dimly-lit room, it’s all the same. Right?”

“More or less like that, yes,” acknowledged Erika.

“Really?” asked Kun. “Why don’t we get those things, too?”

“Because, uh…” Erika fell silent, seemingly unsure how to continue.

“Because these things are rare and precious pieces of advanced technology. And that means, Humans only.”

“Ha!” He jumped up and pointed at his head, grinning. “ _ I’m _ a precious piece of advanced technology!”

“Sure.” Kina crossed her arms. ”You’re not  _ rare _ , though.”

“Pfft!” He waved the comment aside and began walking towards the locker room. “Whatever. You guys are lame. I’m gonna get my stuff. The sooner I’m out of this crap hole, the better.”

Kina stretched, feeling some muscles crack in her back. “Couldn’t agree more with that.”

“Uhm…” started Erika.

“Right. You wanted to ask something?”

“You live in Low City, right?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Do you know that shop? Brandon’s?”

Kina stared at her for a second in mild disbelief. “You have to be more specific than that.”

“Oh, right. I think I have it here...” The knight closed her helmet for a moment, did something with her fingers and opened it again. “Feather Street?”

Kina blinked. “The one in the second commercial district?”

“I guess? Where is that?”

“Not far from where I live.”

“Can you show it to me?”

Kina massaged the back of her neck, focussing on sounding not too annoyed when she answered. “Do you seriously need me? How often have you been in Low City?”

“Uhm...two, three times?”

“You’ve been holed up in the Tower for your entire life? You know, it’s really reassuring that someone as helpless as you is now responsible for my safety.”

The Human ignored that remark. “So...are you going to help me or not?”

Kina threw up her arms. “Sure! Why not!”

“Great!”

 

\---------

The sun was below the horizon, but the commercial district was almost as bright and busy as during the day. Orchid was lacking many things, but energy wasn’t one of them. And so there were plenty of lights, some white and functional to illuminate the narrow streets and passages, others colorful and flashy to catch the attention of passersby.

Like the other commercial districts, this area was more popular with Humans, many of which didn’t live here but came down from the Tower. For them it was an exciting novelty, visiting the bars and other establishments, or browsing the stores for unusual foods, artifacts or the newest electronics from the large factories. 

For the Spirits of the city it was a necessity. A place to spend their meager payments to buy their food and other essential items.

There were no barriers or obvious signs, but some places were clearly more aimed at either Human  _ or _ Spirit customers, and despite the appearance of a bustling melting pot, a degree of division could be felt everywhere.

 

At least it was obvious to Kina. Erika didn’t seem to notice, as she looked around curiously, often stopping to take a look at what a shop had to offer. Even though it was unusually warm for a fall evening, the Human was wearing a light jacket and gloves.

It took Kina a bit to realize that the knight was trying to hide her arms.

 

Kina knew the area, so it didn’t take too long to find the place. A small store hidden in one of the many, many narrow side alleys, almost tight enough to prevent two Humans from passing each other. Space was valuable in Low City, and many buildings were cramped together like that. Not like Spirits needed much room, anyway.

Kina decided to wait outside. From what she could make out, the store seemed to sell books and other random stuff, probably used, maybe Old World, but whatever it was, she wasn’t interested. She was just tired and wanted to go home.

Erika took longer than expected and Kina let her thoughts drift. Why was she even still waiting? She had done what was asked of her. Leaving now might’ve been rude, but even this silly girl would find her way home by herself. Not like the enormous silhouette of Tower 5 was hard to miss.

She sighed and slowly made her way towards the main road. Two Spirits ran past the entrance of the alley, but Kina failed to think much of it. Spirits were in a hurry all the time. It was only when she exited the alley when she noticed something was wrong.

The road was empty. Some shops were shutting their doors and turning off lights, pretending to be closed. Two Humans, one male, one female, came walking slowly along the road. They both were young adults, wearing modified, colorful clothing and eccentric hairstyles. The man carried a wooden bat casually over his shoulder.

Kina needed less than a second to take this all in and understand what was going on. Trying to avoid sudden movement she tried to slide back into the alley.

Too late.

“Hey! You there!” shouted the man.

Kina cursed internally and considered running away for a second, but she assumed that display of disobedience would just make them angry. Not to mention, Humans were faster than Spirits.

_ Just stay calm. _

She jumped out of her cover and forced a smile. “Of course! Hello! How can I help you?”

The two newcomers seemed relaxed, walked a few steps closer and then stopped.

“We’re in town to have some fun,” said the man, glancing to his companion, smiling. “But everyone here is so boring. How about you? Are you boring?”

“Uhm...no?”

“Oh, that’s great! So, got any ideas what we could do?”

“I th-think when you go down this street, at the next crossing on the left there’s a bar that-”

“A bar?” interrupted the woman, “seriously?”

“Yeah,” endorsed the man, “seriously? What do you think of us, hm?”

Kina grabbed her upper left arm with her right hand. “Uh, I mean…”

“Do we look like drunkards to you?” asked the man in a condescending voice, leaning forward.

“No, I just thought-”

“This one is just as boring as the others,” interrupted the woman, sounding disappointed and annoyed.

The man sighed. “You’re right. Boring, boring…” he jumped sidewards and crashed his bat into a display full of fresh fruit, spilling the contents all over the ground, “BORING!!!”

The unexpected shout and crashing noise was loud enough to make Kina shriek and fall backwards. 

The Humans laughed.

“Now that’s better!” The man pointed the bat at her. “Maybe we can have some fun here, after all?”

Kina got back up as quickly as she could, now definitely ready to risk running.

“What happened?” asked a familiar voice behind her, “is everyone alright?”

Erika had come out of the alley as well. She was carrying a wrapped package under her arm.

“All good,” replied the man, calmly. “We were just having some- wait a second, is that you, Erika?”

His partner laughed with surprise. “Hey you’re right. Teubner, right?”

Erika stared for a moment. “Bea? Edgar? What’s with this look?”

“You like it? What are you doing here, girl? I always thought you hated this place?”

“I could ask you the same. Are you alright, Kina?”

“I’m fine,” answered the Spirit. “You know these guys?”

“‘Kina’?” asked the man. “What, you’re friends with this thing?”

Erika ignored the question and looked at the bat and the mess on the ground. “What were you about to do here?”

Edgar made an annoyed sound. “Oh come on! You know how this works.”

“No. I don’t.” Her expression was unmoving.

“Aww Erika,” chirped Bea, “don’t be like this now. I always thought you were cool. Although, actually...” Her smile disappeared. “No, I didn’t think that, like, ever. You were always so dumb and annoying. So how about you fuck off and run back to daddy, just like you always did?”

Erika returned her icy glare. “My father is dead.”

“Oh. Well, too bad. Welcome to the club, I guess.”

The knight looked over to Edgar and stretched out her hand. “Give me the bat.”

The addressed Human grinned wide. “Or what?”

Wordlessly, Erika put her package on the ground and took off her gloves, making sure her hands were visible. Black, metallic hands.

“What, you got augs now?” asked Bea with amused disbelief. “Why...oh, you’re a knight? Seriously?”

The woman named Bea started laughing. “Erika the knight! Oh that’s just precious!”

“Give me the bat,” repeated Erika.

“Or what?”

The knight shifted her weight. Edgar responded by grabbing the bat with both hands. 

There was a strange tension in the air for a few long seconds, but then Bea turned around and pushed Edgar in the shoulder.

“Come on Eddie. Let’s go. I’m done looking at this miserable face.”

Edgar didn’t respond immediately. Then he shook his head, muttered “a fucking knight,” and turned around as well. The two troublemakers walked back the way they had come and were soon out of sight.

 

Kina took a deep breath in relief. “Whew. Thanks. Guess you just saved me from a trip to maintenance. Or worse.”

“I can’t believe they would do something like this.” Erika was still staring after the two.

“Well, it happens.”

The knight looked down to her. “You mean this is common?”

“Common enough.”

Erika thought for a moment. “We should talk. But...maybe not here. You mentioned a bar earlier?”

“Oh, yeah. But that place sucks. Hold on, I got a better idea.”

 

\----------

 

The shop was unremarkable from the outside, but clean, welcoming and warm once entered. For Spirits it was more than big enough, although Erika had to watch her head while entering. Kina led her to two free seats at the counter.

She pretended not to notice that two Spirits near the entrance got up and left as soon as they saw the knight. Erika either pretended to not notice either, or she actually didn’t care.

 

The seats were designed so that a Spirit could easily climb up. A Human like Erika, of course, did not need to do this.

After taking a seat, Kina shouted an order towards the Spirit behind the bar. Two bowls, one regular, one Human-sized. The Spirit just nodded and went to work.

“Are you here often?” asked Erika, looking around curiously.

“Sometimes. I know it doesn’t look fancy or anything, but trust me, it’s the best noodles in Low City. They make them themselves, with real wheat, and whatever they do with the broth is basically magic.”

“Hm.”

Kina shot a glance to the side, crossing her arms. “What, you think this won’t compare to your fancy Human food up in the tower?”

“Huh? Oh, no that’s not it. I’m sure it’s great.”

“Then what’s wrong? Is it because of your two friends earlier?”

“They’re not my friends.”

“But you knew them.”

Erika sighed. “Yes. From school.”

“I see.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice a little. “For a moment, you looked like you were going to fight the guy. Would you have really...I mean…”

“That’s what’s so weird. I...don’t know what had gotten into me. Obviously, as a knight I’m not supposed to fight other Humans, like, ever. I just did what I felt was right. But if he had actually attacked...I don’t know what I would have had done.”

“I bet you would’ve kicked his ass.”

Erika looked shocked. “Kina, please.”

“I’m just saying!”

The Spirit working at the bar brought water and two glasses. “E-excuse me, Miss Knight, I hope you don’t mind that we’re not allowed to serve alcohol here.”

Erika waved her hand. “It’s fine. Not my thing anyway.”

The server just nodded, smiled nervously and disappeared quickly.

“So what was this about?” asked Erika. “You mentioned that this was a common thing.”

Kina’s face got serious. “Oh, yes. Bored Humans who come down from the tower to start trouble. Mostly they just get drunk and harass Spirits or something. Sometimes they break stuff. And sometimes...well. They call it ‘culling’. I guess the logic is, as long as the core remains intact, it’s all just harmless fun. The broken body gets recycled, the core gets installed into a new one, and it’s fine. Of course, they don’t ask what  _ we _ think about this.”

“I guess you’re not happy about this.”

“Of course not! The pain, the shock, the fear that they might break the core anyway? Because that happens, too.” Kina scratched her neck, calming herself. “Sometimes, they get bold enough to attack other Humans, too. That’s usually the only time they get into actual trouble.”

“Culling...I think I heard people talking about this. I didn’t quite realize what it was. I never expected it to be something like this.”

“What did you think it would be?”

“I don’t know. Never really thought about it. Something more...harmless?”

Kina looked around the room to buy a moment to think, once again amazed by the naivety of this girl. “Well, now you know the truth.”

“Yes. But shouldn’t O-Sec or the SPS prevent this?”

Kina shrugged. “Sure, I guess. When they’re actually around to see it. Mostly they don’t. And why would they. It’s easier to just send a broken Spirit back to maintenance and have it fixed than to keep the entire city under proper watch.”

Erika didn’t answer, instead she rested her head on her right hand.

Kina still had no idea what was going on in the head of this Human. Not that this was unusual. Organic brains were strange and often worked in mysterious ways. “Well, I guess I was lucky today,” she smirked, “not everyone has a knight as a personal bodyguard.”

Erika’s head shot up. “I’m not- well, I guess protecting Spirits is my job now, but if you think I’ll keep watching over you like that you’re mistaken.”

“What? But who else is going to protect little old me from the anglers and tunnel worms?”

“Oh come on, you know what I mean.”

Kina chuckled mischievously.

 

“Are you really going to eat this entire thing?” asked Kina, at the sight of Erika’s bowl.

“Come on, it’s not  _ that _ much!”

“Oh right, I forgot that you guys have such inefficient bodies.”

Erika made a tiny, annoyed sound and was about to answer, but hesitated. After a moment, though, she said “We’re not inefficient. We just need extra energy for our awesomeness.”

Kina raised an eyebrow. “Hmpf. Touché.”

Erika reached for her chopsticks and fiddled with them for a bit. Then she sighed, dropped them and reached for a fork and a spoon.

“What?” smirked Kina. “I guess this is new for you, too? Do I have to teach you?”

The knight didn’t look up from her food. “I learned how to use chopsticks when I was six. I’ve used them my entire life. But that was before I got those things.”

She didn’t specify what she meant, but it was obvious she referred to her new arms.

Kina took a breath through her teeth. She looked at her own, fleshy hands, holding her (Spirit-sized) chopsticks with ease. Then she looked back to Erika’s metallic hands. “Still a sensitive topic, huh?”

“It’s fine.” She managed to get some of the noodles into her mouth. ”Shtill works, shee?”

Kina went for her own noodles. “Glad to see I don’t have to feed you. But seriously, I always assumed these augs were just straight up better.”

“Better? I mean, depends on what you consider important. Sure, I can hold a plasma rifle straight all day long, without getting tired or shaky. I can throw grenades over a hundred meters far like it’s nothing. Or, you know. Kick in ancient doors? ‘Better’ for those things, sure. For everything else they’re...well, just good enough.” She stirred in her soup, trying to catch some noodles. ”Good enough...except for…” She trailed off, thinking about something.

“For what?”

Erika shook her head. “Nevermind. I’m not supposed to complain. It’s an honor, they say. Only the finest materials and all that. Some of the alloys in these things are actually incredibly rare these days.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

“And it’s still better than what they do in the Black Order. I mean, at least I still have those.” She used the butt of the fork to point at herself.

Kina raised an eyebrow, confused. “You mean your organs?”

“Oh, uh, sure, those too. By the way, you were right!”

“Huh?”

“These noodles are fantastic!”

 

A few minutes later, a group of Spirits came in. They stayed close to the entrance but seemed unhappy about something, shooting glances and murmuring amongst themselves.

One of them left the group and came over. Kina’s ears raised a little with surprise when she noticed it was Kun.

“Heard there was some incident,” he said while grinning wide. “Is it true that you guys were involved?”

“It was nothing serious,” answered Erika.

“What are you doing here?” inquired Kina.

“I just had to see for myself. Also, to give you a heads up: Some people aren’t happy with her being here.” He pointed with his thumb at Erika. “And they aren’t too excited about you bringing her here, either.”

Kina shook her head in disbelief. “Maybe ‘some people’ should mind their own business. She helped me.”

“Hey I’m just the messenger. Guess not everyone is keen on seeing more knights after work.”

“Alright I get it,” said Erika, getting up from her seat. She grabbed her package and tossed a few petals on the counter, small coins made of valuable alloys. “For both, keep the rest.”

“Erika you don’t have to-” started Kina, but she got interrupted.

“Look at her, flaunting her wealth like that!” shouted one of the observing Spirits. The others muttered approval. “Humans and their damn basic income. We have to work for our money!”

“I’m working too,” responded Erika in a matter-of-fact voice while she calmly made her way past the group and towards the exit, not appearing to be in a hurry.

“Working is what you call this? You mean, you’re living out your bent for violence?”

The knight didn’t reply, but instead just raised a middle finger towards the speaker before disappearing through the door.

Kun chuckled to himself as he watched the Spirit getting even more angry after that. The entire group got loud with “did you see that?”, “I can’t believe it” and similar outbursts of disbelief.

Kina just kept her head low and used the turmoil to disappear unnoticed at the first opportunity.

 

\----------

Next day, they were doing salvage work in a room right at the edge of the Watch area. Aggressive warning signs and improvised barricades marked the border. Erika was quietly standing guard a bit away from the Spirits. She often looked nervously towards the forbidden zone, but it remained completely silent.

“Okay, uuh, how do I use this again?” Kun fiddled with his plasma cutter.

Kina looked up from her own work. “Eye protection first! What are you doing?”

“Oh, right.” He put on his goggles before investigating his cutter again. “And now?”

“How do you not know this? I thought you worked in steel production!”

“Yeah but...I mean, we only had those large machines, not these things. I never held one of those before.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re using handheld cutters in the steel mills.”

“I mean, true, but not me! I only pushed buttons and carried boxes. Come on, Kina, you’re supposed to teach me these things.”

Kina shook her head, turned her cutter off and went over to show him. 

At least it didn’t take long for him to get the hang of it.

 

“So what happened?” asked Kun.

“What do you mean?”

He made a head movement towards the Watch zone instead of answering.

Kina shrugged. “Who knows. The Watch freaked out. Stuff like that happens down here.”

“But you were in the middle of it, right?”

“Sort of.”

“And then you lost a coworker.”

Kina could feel her neck itching. “Yes. Angler attack. It...happens down here. That’s all in the reports.”

Kun grinned mischievously. “But that’s just the official version, right? You sure you haven’t seen anything else?”

Kina’s neck got worse and she took a second before answering. “Not really. Didn’t have much time for sightseeing while running for my life.”

“So you think there’s nothing about those rumors that something really weird was found?”

Her emotional cortex clamped down on her consciousness with a cold feeling. Her experience as a salvager had taught her to remain calm in stressful and dangerous situations, but she was still glad her eyes were hidden under her goggles. Fortunately, an opportunity to redirect her fears into anger presented itself.

“Hey! Cut straight! Seriously, I just showed you!”

He jumped a bit and went back to focussing on the remains of the ancient, broken-down machinery they were disassembling. “R-right. Sorry.”

“I don’t know what the other teams were doing,” she replied with as calm of a voice she could muster. “For mine, the answer is no.”

“I see. Too bad.”

“Why? What exactly was supposedly found?”

“Beats me. Just rumors, you know. The usual.”

“The usual. Right.” Seeing how Kun had gotten the hang of cutting, Kina began to turn to go back to her own work.

“They say you’re attracting trouble.”

Kina stopped in her tracks. “Do they?”

Kun disabled his cutter before looking up to her, once again grinning. “Just figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. Especially after I’ve seen it myself yesterday.”

“Right. You know what also attracts trouble? Putting too much weight into silly rumors. Now get back to work.”

“Gotcha.”

 

“Hey, Kina,” shouted Erika, while looking into a dark tunnel where the lighting had failed. Strangely, its exit was well above ground, even the Human could just barely see into it. “Are there any of ours in this direction?”

Kina didn’t even have to check her notes. “No.”

“Got it.” She raised her plasma carbine and fired a couple times into the darkness.

Kun shrieked and pressed his hands on his ears. “Argh! What are you doing?” he squealed after the knight had stopped. “Are you crazy?”

“I just thought i saw something.”

“And you start shooting, just like that? What is wrong with you?”

“What did you see?” asked Kina, sounding concerned.

“No idea. Some weird-ass shadow. But I think I scared it off.”

“I can’t-” the male Spirit got visibly upset and dropped his plasma cutter, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. I have to get out of here.”

Kina smirked at seeing him freak out. “What, scared of some monsters?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Calm down. It was probably just some scavenger. At worst a tunnel worm or something.”

“Just a tunnel worm?” Kun threw his hands up in disbelief. “As if those aren’t bad enough! They can eat us too, right?”

“Sure. But they are no match for plasma fire.”

“What if it was an angler? Or one of those stray krell I’ve heard about? The ones that dig tunnels to get into this place? Those are real, right?”

“I’ve never seen any krell. And the knights can deal with anything else that lives down here.”

“The knights? You mean  _ her _ ? She’s gonna protect us? The way she protected your former partner?”

Kina’s smile disappeared and she stood up straight. “Shut up!” she growled. “And get back to work. Now!”

Kun didn’t respond. After a moment he picked his cutter up again and went back to what he was doing.

“Still, I can’t believe they make us work under conditions like this,” he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.


	5. The Tower

Kina walked through another spacious corridor, trying to find the address. She didn’t go often to the upper levels of Tower 5, where most of the Human population of Orchid lived. She rarely had any business in the tower, and even though a random Spirit was usually ignored, she found the presence of so many Humans unnerving. Even the Spirits who worked here seemed to be aloof, looking down on “lower class” workers like herself. Spirits didn’t even have anything like a ranking system, but being around Humans and their hierarchies must’ve rubbed off on some people.

She took the opportunity to take a closer look at the inner parts of the place. The Tower was originally never intended to be a place to be lived in, but the Humans had done a great job at hiding this. She could still make out where they had torn down, installed or replaced walls, floors and ceilings, wiring and pipes. But it was all pretty solid work.

In this corridor, they put Human paintings on the wall. Kina tried to ignore them. She knew it wasn’t the intention, but it always felt to her as if this was just another way the Humans used to display their superiority. Spirit “art” always seemed simplistic, generic and uninspired at best, compared to the imaginative works Human artists were able to come up with.

 _Humans make art the same way they make gods_.

Kina had never quite understood the expression her old teacher Yon had once told her, but it sounded important and probably had something to do with their creativity.

She dared to take a second look at one particular painting, if only due to its unusually massive size. It showed a strange, alien landscape and bizarre creatures, but that was only at first glance. She couldn’t help but stare at it.

Looking closer, she realized that there seemed to be absurd and otherworldly little scenes hidden in it. The longer she looked at it, the more of them she noticed. The realization that the entire work was actually covered in them made her shudder.

In a strange way, the painting reminded her of the staircase back in the Depths. Something that seemed shallow and manageable at first, but then it just kept going deeper and deeper, with a weird little secret at the end.

Was that what the Humans called ‘inspiration’?

The sheer size of the painting, combined with the insane attention to detail made her head spin. Someone made this by hand? It must’ve taken forever.

She forced herself to look away and found a plaque. It told her that it was made by an Heir - supposedly someone who had practiced art for more than 500 years. This answered some questions, although it also raised new ones.

So this thing was created by one of _them_. How did it get here? Was it traded? For what? Kina knew that the Orchidians had few things the Heirs were interested in. Despite that, some Heirs still tried to help out, by bringing in certain materials, often free of charge. But she had never heard about pieces of art being delivered.

What was this made of? If they made the paint from New World materials, then wasn’t this toxic? Suddenly there were so many questions.

Her thoughts were interrupted by something hitting her in the back of her head, almost causing her to fall over forward. Furious, she flipped around, ready to yell at whoever was trying to bully her.

“What the hell is your-”

The “bully” turned out to be a boy of maybe eight years, who was just picking up his ball. There were other kids his age, probably part of some group. She hadn’t noticed them approaching.

“S-sorry, Miss Spirit, I didn’t want to, I mean, I tried throwing it to Michael, and, uh…”

Kina closed her eyes. Her hand wandered to the back of her neck, as she forced herself to calm down. “It’s...okay. No problem. You just startled me, that is all.”

The boy simply smiled in response.

Kina didn’t really like Human children. Sure, they seemed innocent and all that, but they already had the ability to be cruel, and they often acted in unpredictable ways. They were ‘closer to the beast’, as Yon had put it, and still learning to keep it in check.

On the other hand, it was also kind of adorable to see Humans her own size, who weren’t as powerful and intimidating as the adults. Too bad they didn’t stay like that.

“That uniform, it means you’re a salvager, right?” asked one of the others. And before Kina knew what was happening, she was surrounded by curious children.

“Do you really work in the Depths?”

“Have you seen a monster?”

“How many Old World artifacts have you found?”

“You’re working with the knights, right?”

“I, uh, erm…” Kina struggled to come up with any coherent answers. This was not what she had expected. “Y-yeah, and I s-saw-”

“Hey! Leave the Spirit alone!” An older woman intervened. She seemed to be their supervisor. “I’m sure she has a lot of work to do.” She directed the moaning but compliant children back on their way, and stayed for a moment while Kina caught her breath.

“You look a bit lost.”

“Well, uhm, kind of. Do you know where Erika Teubner lives?”

“Oh! Yes, I remember her. The poor thing. I can’t believe she actually enlisted. I didn’t know she had Spirit friends.”

“We, uh, are more like coworkers.”

“Mhm...second corridor on the left. It’s one of the apartments in the back if I remember correctly.”

“Thank you.”

 

“Come in!”

She entered. The apartment was small, and while bigger than her own, it was clearly intended for only one person. A Human-sized one, that is.

“Kina? I, uh, didn’t expect you. I mean, hello...” Erika was wearing a loose shirt and pants. Kina swallowed. In this light clothing she appeared smaller now. With her thin body, pale skin and light hair she seemed almost fragile. Only the dark and silver metal of her prosthetic limbs disrupted the image, as well-made as they were.

“Yeah, uhm, hi! I, uh,” she reached for the back of her neck, “apparently today is your birthday? So, uhm, happy birthday!”

“Oh! That’s...really nice of you, but...how did you know? I don’t remember telling anyone.”

“Well, when we met you mentioned that it’s this week, and since you got off today, I figured...you Humans always make a big deal out of this thing. Oh, I got something for you. Here!” She offered the little box she had brought.

“Oh, that is, uhm, that really wasn’t…”

“Ah, it’s okay. Just something small. Since you saved me and all, so...please just take it.”

“Wow, thank you, Kina.” She took the little box Kina had offered her. “What is it?”

“Spirit candy! A friend of mine in the Garden makes them from tree sap. Really good! Oh and don’t worry, it’s totally fine for Humans. Just, uh, don’t tell anyone about it, since we’re not really supposed to, well…you know.”

“That is...p-please sit down somewhere...” She herself sat down on her bed.

Kina wasn’t sure, since reading Human emotions wasn’t always easy for her, especially from unfamiliar faces, but she got the impression that Erika was upset. Unsure what to do, she went over to her and sat down on the ground, leaning at the wall. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. I’m,” she sniffled, “I’m fine.”

“So...you’re all alone here, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Nobody’s coming?”

“Didn’t expect anyone. I asked some old friends of mine, but they all said they were too busy.” She shrugged. “They’re all kind of avoiding me since I joined the knights.”

“What kind of friends would do that…?”

“I dunno.”

“What about your new knight buddies?”

“I don’t get along too well with most of them so far. And none of them is free today anyway.”

“That’s rough.” Kina took a moment to sort her thoughts. “Hey, uh. When you talked to that girl back then, you mentioned…I mean, what happened to your father?”

“Oh.” Erika leaned forward and crossed her arms. “Well I was his only child. He never remarried after my mom died when I was little. So when I turned 18, they drafted him. Edelweiss Order. He fell in his first year on the wall.”

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“That’s how it is in Orchid, isn’t it? Someone has to fight to keep everyone else safe.”

“Still.” Kina fidgeted with her hands. “You know. I would lie if I said I understood this whole family bond thing you Humans have. But I know enough to tell that this must hurt. So, uhm. I’m sorry about all that.”

Erika stared at her for a moment, before looking to the side, nodding. “Must be nice, being a Spirit.”

Kina raised her eyebrows in surprise. Why would a Human say that? “I can assure you, it is not.”

“So what is it like?”

“What?” asked Kina, once again surprised. “Being a Spirit? I mean, how am I supposed to answer this? It’s, uh...you know. You just wake up one day. Boom, there you are. Thanks to your implanted knowledge, you already know a lot about this world, or rather, you think you do. Then you go out, eager to help, and see how it really is.”

Erika made a humming sound. “Bit of a bummer, huh?”

“You can say that.”

“After all I have seen...it seems so tough for you guys. How do you even keep going?”

“It’s…” She trailed of.

“What?”

“Actually, now that I think about it, it’s hard to say. It’s more like a strange feeling than anything else. Of course I can choose to do whatever I want. I have free will, or at least I’m pretty sure I do. But I also know I was created for a purpose. Following it...feels right. Abandoning it and giving up would feel wrong.” She stood up, suddenly feeling restless. “Weird, huh. Synthetic intelligence with feelings.”

Erika shrugged. “Doesn’t seem too crazy to me. What purpose are you talking about?”

Kina reached back to her neck and looked awkwardly to the side. “You know what it is,” she mumbled.

“Uhh…”

Kina angrily fixated her and took a step forward. “Serving!” She was close to shouting. “You suckers make us to serve you! What did you think it is?”

“Ohh. Right, that makes sense…”

She groaned but calmed down again. “Does it, really? Serving the lamest species in the world? You know, just because the Exalted have declared you ‘holy’ forever ago doesn’t mean you aren’t incredibly annoying.”

Erika chuckled. “That’s fair.” She raised her hand and looked at her fingertips. “We are kind of the worst.”

“Yeah. Too bad that without you, we wouldn’t even exist. So we have to be sorta grateful for that at least, I suppose.”

Erika pulled her legs up onto the bed as well and went into a different sitting position. “You are kind of unusual for a Spirit,” she said. “I mean...compared to the other ones I’ve met so far,” she then added quickly.

“You say that as if it’s something good.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, don’t tell the SPS. They already have me on a list or something, I’m sure.”

“As if I’d ever do that.” Erika changed her position again, but suddenly her expression looked strained and she groaned.

“You okay?” asked Kina.

“Ugh, yes, I’m fine. Just the hip again. Kina?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Your friend. Kun. It was my fault, wasn’t it? First I had the idea with the tunnel, then I didn’t pay attention…it was my job to protect you two from this thing and I couldn’t even do that right.”

Kina took a deep breath and swallowed. “Erika. I’m not blaming you. It was your first day and you were alone. If it’s anyone’s fault it’s mine. I was supposed to be the leader. But I insisted on going into unsafe territory. I was too greedy.”

“Kina, no…”

“Yes. But the thing is, it doesn’t matter. He’s gone.” She leaned back against the wall and slid down when she felt her knees getting weak. “Blaming each other won’t change that. He’s gone and I will never see him again.”

“I guess...you really liked him, huh.”

“He was always a great friend. They took him and…” She pressed her hand on her face when she felt tears welling up. “When he came back he didn’t remember one thing. But I could tell that he was still the same. The same idiot…” She wiped her eyes. “He thought he was seeing a glitch. Can you believe that? How can you mistake an angler for…he...” When she could no longer hold back, she pulled up her legs and hid her face behind her knees.

Suddenly, Erika was sitting right next to her, putting her hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Kina asked, voice cracking.

“Just what feels right.”

“Ugh.” She tried to take a deep breath. “Can’t you Humans stop being weird for like, one second.”

“Not today.”

“Well.” Kina released her breath and relaxed, defeated. “Okay.”

 

“Is that your sword?” Kina pointed at the weapon, hanging on the wall next to the door in its white, rectangular scabbard. She had calmed herself down and was desperate for a change in topics.

“Yes...I’m now officially allowed to carry one.”

“Why would you need to do that, though? I never understood that part.”

“Dunno...it’s tradition I guess?” Erika got up and took the sword off the wall. “But, apparently i’m actually pretty good with it. They say I’m a natural. But that’s just typical I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just, I finally find _one thing_ I’m good at?” Holding the scabbard in her left hand, she drew the sword and did a forward slash into the air in one fluid motion. “And it’s a skill that’s been obsolete for thousands of years.”

“Oh.” Kina straightened herself after flinching at the sudden attack move. “Uhm, it’s still pretty neat I think…”

“Really?” She held the sword up in her outstretched hand, looking at it thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right. It’s a bit neat. After all, the heroes in the games I used to play, or the books I used to read...they always used swords.”

“Heroes?” Kina scratched her head, checking her base memory. “The kind that fights evil and things like that?”

“Sure. But I’m not really a hero, am I? In the stories they always defeat the bad guys and save the world. But it’s not like I can realistically fight any krell with that.” The knight sheathed the sword and put it back. “So it still doesn’t matter. It’s not very useful, and I am not a hero.”

“Come on. You gotta have something else you’re good at.”

“Well I was...” Erika looked at something below her bed. When Kina followed her gaze she saw an irregularly-shaped case, half-hidden away.

“What is-”

The knight looked away. “Don’t ask.”

Kina grinned. “You better tell me, or I’ll never stop pestering you. Because that’s something _I’m_ good at.”

Erika sighed and walked over to get the case out. Inside was a strange object mostly made out of polished wood.

Kina had never seen something like this, but she found a pattern match in her base memory. “A...violin, right? Some kind of instrument?”

“Yes. You use it to make music.”

“Right. This Old World Human culture thing. Ohh.” Her ears perked up. “Don’t tell me you can actually play this?”

Erika just placed the instrument under her chin and took the bow in the other hand. But even though it looked like she knew what she was doing, she only managed to produce some screeching, ugly sounds. She grimaced and recklessly dropped the instrument on the floor in frustration. “It’s the fingers.” She explained. “Yes, they are close to the real thing. Good enough for most things. But they’re not good enough for this. The feeling is too crude. It’s like I’m wearing gloves except not really, except...whatever. I can never play again.”

“Were you...good?”

“I was okay. Not great or anything. It was mostly just for fun. I loved doing it.”

“Being able to do things just ‘for fun’ must be nice.” She shook her head. “Sorry. I keep forgetting that Humans can have it tough, too.”

“You thought we have it easy?”

“Well, I mean,” she threw her hands up in frustration, “you know! You’re Humans! You’re big and strong and creative and you can do all these crazy things I don’t understand! You’re the Godmakers!”

“I have no idea how to make a god…” mumbled Erika.

“Still...you’re holy and all that…” Kina looked to the ground. “Sorry, I don’t really know how to cheer up a Human.”

Erika chuckled at that. “It’s alright. Hey, how about we drop the sad stuff and do something nice? Are you hungry?” She fell on her bed and reached for the portable phone on her messy nightstand.

“I guess, but-”

“How about a pizza? I know where to get one with real cheese. And actual meat.”

Kina raised her hands. “Whoa, hold on. That’s gotta be way too expensive.”

 

 

But Erika was already fiddling with her phone. “Come on, it’s not that much. Or are you also bothered by a Human ‘flaunting her wealth’?”

“I didn’t say that! But how am I-”

 

_rrraaaaaaaooooOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~_

 

They both fell silent, looking at each other in horror. Erika’s phone slipped out of her hands, bounced off the mattress and fell to the floor. Other sirens joined in from all over the city, one after the other. They sounded distant, due to the Tower’s dense walls, but they still managed to combine into a haunting melody. Kina had heard it dozens of times.

 

It was the most feared sound in Orchid.

 

“I have to go.” Erika had already jumped up and was walking over to the door.

“What? Even today, but-”

“You know what this means, right? A Class-A threat or higher is coming. All off-duty knights have to report in immediately.”

“But…”

“I’m sorry! You have to leave, too.” She shoved Kina out of the door, slammed it shut and started running.

“Erika, wait!” she shouted.

The knight stopped and turned around.

Kina thought for a second, but she had no idea what to say in such a situation. “Can you...can you promise to come back alive?”

Erika didn’t answer. But after a moment, she nodded and smiled, before turning back and continuing on her way.

Kina realized that this was the first time she had seen her truly smile.


	6. Sirens

There were a lot of people in the large entrance hall of Tower 5. Kina saw other knights running and shouting, Spirits bustling about, and Human civilians trying to get back to their living quarters, while uniformed members of Orchid Security tried their best to manage the chaos. 

Others were gathering in front of large screens, reporting the current status. The speakers didn’t have much to show at this point, aside from long-range sensor images displaying a huge mass of krell coming in from the south-east. Kina swallowed. That looked pretty serious. She could hear children crying, and their parents trying to calm them down. 

The image was replaced by Field Marshal Lydia van Dijk, the head of the HCK, the High Command of the Knights, who held a short speech about how everything was under control, and urging everyone to remain calm.

The silver-haired, hard-bitten veteran was wearing her formal, dark-blue uniform. Kina had heard that she liked to pretend that any given attack wasn’t a big deal, downplaying the severity of the situation for the sake of the civilians. But the moment the cameras stopped recording she would put on her armor and jump into a transporter to race towards the wall, to personally command her troops into battle.

And indeed, the knights had been very successful in defending Orchid over the past few years. However, this place had a long history of times when the krell seemed manageable for a while, only for them to do something strange and new, catching everyone off-guard. 

Overhearing the conversations around her, it was clear to Kina that everyone was still scared of another event like the one that happened 14 years ago.

She remembered how back then, a new species suddenly showed up as part of a particularly vicious attack. After they had broken through the wall, each of the new creatures released thousands of offspring. The tiny krell had swarmed through the Garden like locusts, causing terrible damage everywhere. But unlike actual locusts, they didn’t even eat the plants they attacked, but simply tore them to shreds and moved on. Despite their small size, they already showed the blind rage and ferocity of their bigger cousins. Just like them, they displayed willingness to sacrifice their own lives, if it meant destroying just a little bit more. And whatever survived their wrath was quickly wiped out by the New World pathogens the krell were spreading wherever they went.

Back then she was still working with the farmers, and for days they were hunting the little creatures while trying to protect as many crops as possible. She recalled sleepless nights, flamethrowers that often did more harm than good, pesticides that didn’t work, the mutilated hands of Spirits who had tried to kill the tiny krell without protection...

They all did their best and in the end they saved Orchid, but it hadn’t been enough to prevent the ensuing famine.

 

As she continued on her way towards the main entrance she noticed a man wearing strange, archaic robes. That by itself wasn’t unusual. Many Humans in Orchid were obsessed with the Old World and some expressed that by wearing clothing in ancient styles.

But this one was standing on a box, holding up a book and a simple, wooden cross. 

Kina remembered seeing this kind of cross here and there. She didn’t know much about it, but apparently it was the symbol of one of the old gods. 

Long ago, before they had managed to make real ones, the Humans had worshipped the imaginary gods of the Blind Age. From what she recalled, this one had supposedly come down to Earth as a Human, only to get brutally murdered. Which ended up being a good thing. Somehow.

It was the kind of bizarre, bloody story only Humans could come up with.

 

A few people had gathered to listen to what this man had to say, although most others just walked past. Some glanced over and shook their heads, although the majority just ignored the scene entirely.

On a whim, Kina decided to walk closer and listen.

“...the false idols have forsaken us, but the LORD is with us, my children! ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me’! If only we had listened! We have sinned, we have strayed from the path of truth. But despite that, He has been with us the whole time, even though we lost sight of Him!” He made a dramatic pause. “But I am here to tell you, have hope! There is no barrier to God’s forgiveness! However!” Another pause. “This forgiveness does not come easy. To approach God with our sins, we first need to recognise them! We have to be wrecked with guilt, and weep at our need of forgiveness! Only then we will be able to find true forgiveness, and be freed from the shackles of our sins!” 

He spread his arms dramatically. “Come closer, my children, and let us pray! Let me guide you back to Him! Let me guide you back into the light, and let me save our souls! Come to me, don’t be shy!”

Weirdly fascinated, Kina followed the request as well, walking forward without even realizing it.

“Not you, automaton!” shouted the preacher as he noticed her. Kina was the only Spirit in the group, and now everyone turned to look at her. People started whispering. “You are not one of God’s creations,” continued the preacher in a calmer, but still firm voice. “He cannot see you! But rejoice, for you have no soul that needs saving. Now go, and leave us be!”

Singled out like that, and internally cursing herself for being so stupid, she felt no other option but to turn around and walk away as fast as she could, forcing herself not to run, with her hands buried deep into her pockets. 

 

It was getting dark outside when she left Tower 5. Apparently the krell were going for a nighttime attack again.

The sirens were still howling over the city, and Kina could hear how the long-range artillery on the south-eastern part of the wall was already firing. 

The sound of occasional railgun shots echoing over the city was a part of daily life, serving everyone as a constant reminder of the existence of the eternal enemy. But this was already way more than usual, and it was only getting more and more intense. 

A squadron of Orkans roared past over the Garden and towards the direction of the wall. 

The powerful flying machines could carry several tons of additional weight, and were often used by the knights to transport equipment or personnel. However, these were obviously armed with heavy weapons and on their way to engage the krell before they reached the wall. Fuel was precious, and this sortie showed they were taking the attack seriously.

“I just hope she’ll be okay…” Kina mumbled to herself, as she made her way into Low City. Towards home. Safety.

 

\----------

 

The city was relatively calm, which wasn’t a surprise, considering the ongoing attack. Most people who weren’t needed at the frontline or on standby were inside to follow the live coverage, or with their loved ones. Attacks weren’t uncommon in Orchid, and life always went on. But during one of this size, it at least slowed down for a while. 

Kina didn’t take the train. She decided to skip at least a few stations by foot because she was still upset at everything that happened the past few days. Walking briskly, she hoped to clear her mind, at least for a bit.

Despite the approaching darkness, Low City was as bright and colorful as ever. Along her walk she came past purely utilitarian buildings and others, more elaborate ones in mismatched Old World styles. Some had weird features, and it was impossible to tell if they were just odd decorations, or if they had originally served some long-forgotten purpose. The entire city was like a collection of hazy memories that had taken shape in the real world. Memories reaching back thousands of years.

But no matter how hard they tried, no matter how tall or impressive the Humans tried to build, it all looked minuscule and insignificant next to the towers. 

They loomed over everything, forever uncaring and untouchable. Tower 5 was at least somewhat illuminated by tiny lights and squares, indicating the windows of those who had managed to get a space at the walls.

The other five towers, however, were pitch-black against the late evening sky, and seemingly dead, as always. Their enormous silhouettes dominated the entire place, casting their suffocating shadows over Low City to a point where some areas saw sunlight only a few days of the year. Despite this, people had gotten surprisingly good at just ignoring them in their day-to-day life. There wasn’t much else they could do, after all. Nobody could enter them. There was no access, and even if anyone should somehow get into one, they certainly would’ve incurred the wrath of the Watch. Humans and Spirits alike were not welcome in the towers. 

And so, nobody knew exactly what was inside, or even what purpose they served. 

Sometimes, people reported hearing strange noises. Others claimed they had seen things flying off into the night sky, none of which ever showed up on the military surveillance system. Still others saw strange lights in places that made no sense, or weather anomalies, or even dark, non-Human figures sneaking around. There was a myriad of theories and rumors going around, one crazier than the next.

The biggest mystery to this day, of course, was the reason why Orchid still existed in the first place. Any attempts to locate other Old World installations or buildings using long-range reconnaissance planes or the reports of visiting Heirs had failed, with the rare exception of some isolated ruins that had survived deep underground. Whatever had caused the great change had been extremely thorough, and yet Orchid had survived it without a scratch.

 

Walking through another little alley, lost in thought, she heard a telephone ring. Of course, she tried to ignore it at first, but it didn’t stop. She could feel anger rising up inside her due to the grating noise and looked around.

There was nothing unusual about this narrow street nestled between large buildings. On ground level, there were the fronts of small stores and workshops offering mostly electronics and repairs. Most were already closing at this late time, although nearly all of them had colorful illuminated signs or advertisements, basking the place in enough light to make the streetlights almost unnecessary. Finally, she spotted the culprit.

It was one of the public phones, a simple open booth installed at the wall of the nearby building. Phones like this were found all over the city, provided mostly for the Spirits, who weren’t allowed to own portable communication devices. Kina didn’t even know these things could ring. 

_ Do they have their own numbers and everything? _

She looked to all sides, but nobody was in sight. She was the only one on the entire street. 

Obviously, this had to be some kind of malfunction. Deciding that it wasn’t her problem, she ducked her head and kept walking. After getting some distance, the ringing stopped. But when she came close to another public phone a few minutes later, this one started ringing, too.

Again, she looked around, but there was nobody to be seen, Human or Spirit alike. This had to be some kind of stupid, elaborate prank. More out of morbid curiosity than anything else, she walked over. After hesitating for a moment, she picked up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Kina, right? I’ve been watching you.”

She had never heard this voice before. It didn’t sound like a Spirit, but it wasn’t like any Human voice she heard before, either. She couldn’t even tell if it belonged to a man or a woman. “Wh-who are-”

“A pretty big mess that you made there. That’s not good. That’s not good at all.” The voice seemed free of malice, but it was dripping with condescension.

“What are you talking about? Who are you?!”

“Did you know there’s an organization called the New Dawn Institute? Could be a problem, maybe.” Kina had trouble discerning if this person was actually talking to her, or rambling to themselves. “They’re not your friends, for sure. Stay away. Bye.”

And with that, the line went dead.

 

Kina went home as quickly as she could and hid under her blanket, screaming into her pillow.


	7. The Garden

“This has to be the worst job ever.” complained Kun, as he tossed another krell piece into his biohazard-bag. The Spirit with the silvery fur was wearing a protective suit and a simple filter mask, the same as Kina. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty gross,” she replied. “But hey, at least they didn’t release those swarmers this time, right?”

It was one of the moments where she hated having this fur. The masks wouldn’t fit perfectly and weren’t entirely air-tight because of it, although it was still better than nothing. Spirits were created with an enhanced resistance to New World pathogens, but they weren’t entirely immune, and krell were carrying a lot of nasty things, remaining dangerous even in death.

This was also the reason why their corpses had to be removed from the Garden as fast as possible. Other Spirits were already spraying nanobodies to fight infections, although preventing them entirely was difficult. Whenever the krell got into the wall, outbreaks followed.

Most available Spirits in non-critical positions had been assigned to cleanup and repair the day after the attack, and this included the salvagers. Thousands of the little workers were now collecting and disposing the broken and burned bodies of the monstrous invaders, searching carefully not to miss even tiny bits. Knights were ordered to help as well, relying as usual on their sealed armor for protection, although most didn’t seem too motivated. A number of Human volunteers were helping, too, although those only got the safe and easy jobs.

“Oh cosmos, there’s another one...eww,” Kun groaned as he spotted the corpse. 

Kina walked over to take a closer look at the dead monstrosity. 

There were plenty of different types of krell, and most resembled no known creature from the Old World. This one seemed to be one of the basic warrior types that were found in huge numbers in most of the attack swarms. With its numerous legs and  iridescent , armored exoskeleton, it vaguely resembled a wingless insect. Except insects didn’t grow to the size of a grown Human man, and they didn’t have monstrous teeth, either. 

Like most krell, it didn’t seem to have eyes. Kina briefly wondered how it must’ve perceived the world, but considering how they loved coming at night, it was probably something that had nothing to do with vision.

She could, however, get a good look at its black, torn-up insides, causing her to shiver. “Looks like it was almost blown in half. Yikes. That will be messy.”

“You won’t believe it, but I’m actually missing the Depths right now…”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to go back to the anglers and the Watch-craziness, too.” A part of her was actually serious.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. That thing with the Watch. I heard some pretty crazy rumours again.”

Kina left out a sigh. “There’s always rumors in the underground. Monsters, ghosts, living shadows. People can’t handle their cores glitching out. You shouldn’t listen to that crap.”

“Ah, come on. You know I’m not talking about ghost stories. The Watch freaking out and expanding its domain? That’s quite something, don’t you think?”

Kina made an annoyed sound. “This again? It happens. We’re constantly poking around at the edges of their territory. Nothing unusual.”

“Yeah, I guess…”

He didn’t really sound convinced, but at least he dropped the topic for now. Kina had told him to ask questions, but his endless curiosity and obsession with rumors started to annoy her.

She paused for a moment, looking around. 

There were traces of last night’s battle everywhere. This had been a wilderness reserve, mostly untouched nature from the days of the Old World.

Back then, not only Orchid itself, but also the surrounding area had been spared by the transformation. Most of the zone had been cleared and repurposed over time, but a few acres had been allowed to grow with only minimal management, resulting in what might be the very last, real traces of Old World nature. Or would have. Now it would take years for the damage to heal, if not decades, even if additional infections could be avoided. The krell in their unstoppable rage had no problems with breaking and tearing even through the strongest trees, and the plasma weapons used by the knights had done the rest. A few fires were still smoldering here and there.

The wilderness reserves were controversial to begin with. They were often called “wasted space” that could instead be used to grow more food, timber or other resources. Having to invest time and effort to fix them probably wouldn’t help in this regard. Kina had always liked them, though. They were actual nature at work in its own beautiful, wild way: A glimpse into what the Old World might've looked like a long, long time ago. It was rare, but sometimes she understood why the Humans were so obsessed with this lost, ancient age.

Looking back at Kun, she wondered if she was too harsh with him. Maybe this was all just getting too much for her. She just wanted everything to go back to normal. To how it was before. She wanted Miji back.

 

_ There’s no point in mulling over what has happened, Kina. Keep your memories in your heart, for as long as you have them, but keep your eyes on what’s ahead. The future is scary, but unlike the past, it can be changed. _

 

“We’re Spirits, Yon. We can’t change anything,” she mumbled to herself, while going back to work.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing.”

 

\----------

 

This krell was big, a lot more stout and massive, with thick armor and a set of front limbs looking like massive deformed clubs. It was leaking a pitch-black liquid that sizzled and steamed where it hit the ground. 

“Hey, Humans!” Kina shouted towards a pair of knights who were standing around, while pointing at the big corpse. With the next breath she inhaled some of the fumes produced by the liquid, her mask doing nothing to stop them. They burned in her nose and throat like fire, causing her to cough violently. “Would you...mind...helping us with that one?” She continued when she found her voice again. “The container is almost full.”

The full containers were picked up by large telehandlers and transported to the wall, where cranes would lift them up and dump them over to the other side. There they would just burn everything. The Heirs were known to use krell carapace as a resource, but the Orchidians considered it to be too toxic and dangerous. Too  _ New World _ .

“Piss off!” shouted one of them back, before they went back to talking with each other.

“Typical.” she mumbled.

“Why are they like this?” wondered Kun. “Would it really kill them to lend us a hand?”

“Well, their job is fighting, and I guess they consider that to be done,” she shrugged. “This dirty work is beneath them.”

They were usually more motivated when the food was on the line. But this was just a wilderness reserve, and they weren’t the ones who had to fix it.

It was a shame, since they really could’ve used their help. Spirits were relatively strong for their size, but no match for Human adults, especially the men. And the augmented strength of a knight was on a different level entirely. 

Kina wished they had one of the big machines with them, but none of those were in sight. There weren’t enough available, as always, and the ones they had were all needed elsewhere. 

Orchid had so much amazing technology, and yet the Spirits were often left with little more than their wits and tiny hands to complete their tasks.

“But aren’t they supposed to help us here?” wondered Kun.

“Feel free to go over there and remind them of their orders. Maybe you’re lucky and they only laugh at you.”

She took out her plasma cutter, cringing at the thought of what they now had to do. “Come on, Kun, let’s get this over with.”

“Isn’t that…?”

She followed his gaze and spotted two knights in the light armor of the Deep Order approaching.

“Need a hand?”

“Erika! You’re okay! I checked the casualty list this morning and didn’t see your name, but I couldn’t reach, you, and, uhm…” She fell quiet when she noticed how worried she sounded.

“Yo, Kina.” The other knight had a male voice. He was wearing the same kind of armor as Erika, with the same, closed helmet.

Kina still recognized him in an instant. “...and Clovis. Feeling better?”

“All good. Got a bunch of kills tonight.”

“That’s...nice?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“I don’t think I ever want.”

Erika went over to the big corpse and turned to look back at Clovis, who showed no intention to move. “Come on, I can’t do this alone.”

“Aww man! I thought our job is  _ fighting _ and this dirty work is  _ beneath us _ .”

Everyone went silent and for a moment he just stood there, as if he has been serious. Then he laughed, went over and the two knights tossed the entire krell in, with little effort.

 

“So, how was it?” asked Kina. “Tonight, I mean. I heard it was really bad at the wall.”

“You heard? Just look at the thing.” Clovis pointed in the general direction.

“We from the Deep Order weren’t at the wall,” added Erika. “They kept our units back to defend some fields over there.” She gestured towards a direction somewhere north. “But the krell never got this far. Then, when the Black Order led the counterattack, we followed. I helped bring down two or three of them.”

“You should’ve seen me!” boasted her partner. “Although, we really could’ve gotten a bit more action, if you ask me.”

“I thought it was scary enough...and certainly better than the mess at the wall. I mean, we lost like a hundred people.”

There was an uneasy silence for a moment, but it was interrupted by a commotion a few hundred meters away, out of sight due to trees and brushes. Screams and shouting, followed by a piercing screech that made the fur on Kina’s back stand up and her skin crawl. 

Then, the characteristic bright flashes and sounds of plasma fire. 

“Seems like one of them was still alive,” commented Clovis.

“Shh.” Erika held her hand against her helmet for a few moments. “Yeah, they killed it. No Human casualties.”

“Did any Spirits get hurt?” asked Kina.

“They didn’t mention that.”

“Figures…”

“Aw, shame.” Clovis switched his weapon off. Of course he had turned it on at the first sign of trouble. “Didn’t even get to see it. Would’ve loved to kill the damn thing myself.”

“You seem to be a little...excited about all this,” noted Kun.

“Sure. Don’t expect a Spirit to understand that, though.”

“Try me.”

“Don’t listen to this guy.” Kina rolled her eyes. She had heard this story too many times already.

“No, I’m curious now.”

Clovis chuckled. “Alright. You see, fighting and killing is pretty great, actually. Makes you feel...alive. More than anything else, really.”

“Okaaay…”

“Lots of people have forgotten it, and they somehow took it out of the Metas entirely. But the truth is, it was always a part of our nature. It’s in our blood. After all, the people of the past did it all the time, right? Now. You know how a lot of people in this place,” he made a sweeping motion with his hand. “They’re all about the past, thinking they’ve been born in the wrong time or something? I say,  _ this _ is the best time ever. When the people in the Old World, the Blind Age, wanted to fight wars, they only had each other to kill. But that’s kinda messed up, right? Killing other Humans? Doesn’t seem right. But here…” He pointed at the ground and made a little pause for emphasis. “Here, we have  _ monsters _ . Nasty, horrible monsters, who want to destroy us, and all we have. Here, we have an eternal war going on, where a guy like me can fight and kill as much as he wants, without ever having to feel bad. You know, for the greater good and all that crap?” 

He chuckled again, but this time it sounded more sinister. 

Kun looked a little disturbed. “Uh, okay...so I guess...you’re really on board with this...knight thing?”

“You bet I am. Volunteered when I was eighteen. Got my ten years already down, but quitting, nah. They offered me a career as an officer, told them I’m not interested. I like it simple. Just tell me what to shoot. Give me something to _kill_. And if this body gets too messed up to go on, turn me into a carbide. I’m gonna be a knight for as long as I live, like it or not.”

After a moment of uneasy silence, Erika spoke up. “Welp. I’m starting to understand some of the weird comments I got. They teamed me up with a freaking psycho.”

He laughed again, although this time it seemed just regular amusement. “Best thing that could’ve happened to you, Princess. There’s a lot I can teach you. And after what I saw yesterday, you’ve got a lot to learn. Listen to me, and you’ll not just survive your service, you’ll learn to  _ love it _ !”

Kun looked to Kina, but she just shrugged.

“You see now what I have to put up with?”

 

\----------

 

They were all on break and were issued some kind of stew. The Humans were eating something similar, but of course their version had better ingredients. And they got more, too, as well as extra bread. Admittedly, that wasn’t their fault. An average Human needed more than four times as much food as a Spirit. 

They also preferred to keep to themselves, as usual, leaving the Spirits on their own.

 

“I heard a new theory about the thing in Tower 4.”

“What is it this time? A k-krell dragon?”

The two nearby Spirits were passing the time with an activity that was always popular: rumors. Kina didn’t know the black one, who was wearing bio-protection but had his mask off. 

She recognized the other one, although she hadn’t seen him in years. Pin, a Spirit whose fur had a brown tone similar to her own, who always seemed a little on edge. He stood a bit out since he had no protection, but instead just wore the uniform of the constructors.

“A what? Are you stupid?” continued the black one. “No, there’s a rumor that a few days ago, one of the AA-towers had shot down something that wasn’t a krell, but...something else.”

“Uhuuh…”

“And now people are speculating that it has something to do with it.”

“Y-you mean, like a UFO? You s-sure that wasn’t a chunk of space debris? You know, like always?”

“Well, that’s possible, but-”

“Even if it was  _ something _ , where on Earth is the c-connection?”

“What is it with Tower 4 lately?” Kina interrupted the two. “I keep hearing about it.”

Both turned around.

The black one, who had brought up the theory, shrugged. “No clue. There seems to be something in there that wasn’t there before. People noticed it a few weeks ago I think?”

“H-hey, aren’t you Kina?” asked Pin. “R-remember me, from back then? Yon’s classes in the Garden?”

“Yes. Hi, Pin.”

He beamed.

“Oh, hey,” said the black Spirit. “I’m Rani.”

“Hello. Don’t think I’ve seen you yet. You working up in the Tower?” asked Kina, meaning Tower 5, of course.

“Yes, maintenance. You?”

“Depths. Salvager.”

“Oh, that’s rough.”

“So, how can you even tell that something is different in Tower 4 when you can’t get in?”

“Y-yeah, I was about to ask the same,” added Pin. “Who even c-comes up with this stuff?”

Rani just shrugged and grinned. “You know how it is.”

“May I ask, has one of you heard about something called the New Dawn Institute?”

“Hm, why do you ask?”

“Well, uh, I just thought it might be something in the upper levels.”

“I don’t think that’s something official, could be some private research thing, though,” recalled Rani. “There’s more than enough of those and they all have these generic names for some reason.” For a moment, he stirred around in his stew, thinking hard. “Actually, now that you mention it...I remember reading this name somewhere. No clue what they do, though. What’s up with them?”

“Not sure.” Kina tried to sound as casual as she could.  _ So it does exist. _ “Supposedly there’s some shady stuff going on with them? Probably just stupid rumors, though.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, hah. I mean, Humans, right?”

“Haha, yeah…”

“Hey, if you’re a salvager, do you know anything about this recent incident? Something about the Watch expanding its territory and people dying?”

Kina leaned back and sighed.  _ This again.  _ “Well, nothing special, really. Something triggered a Watch response. Suddenly me and my team were deep in forbidden territory and we had to run like hell. Then, during the confusion, an angler attacked and got my coworker. That’s all, really.”

“‘Th-that’s all’ she s-says!” stuttered Pin, eyes wide. “That sounds s-super scary! A-all we ever g-get are accidents on the c-construction sites…”

“Shame, hoped you had something juicy. By the way, Pin, you still haven’t told me about what happened with Mila,” reminded him Rani.

“Oh, r-right! Man, the s-supervisor was so m-mad…”

Kina decided to leave the two to their rumors and went back to her meal.


	8. The Visitor

Most of the Humans had been brought back to the Tower for the night, while the Spirits had been given tents. It was one of the few times Kina appreciated having this fur. At least it helped when the cold of the night came.

Work continued on the next day. Slowly, but steadily, they made their way through the damaged zone, getting closer and closer to the wall in the process. 

 

Clovis and Kun had gone off to get some tools. Kina and Erika were now with a loose group of people who were standing idle, waiting, while knights with heavy flamethrowers were purging a particularly nasty area. Kina wasn’t looking forward to the exhausting work that would follow which included meticulously purifying the soil, and starting the entire area over from scratch. She felt sorry for the gardeners. Most of the work would fall onto them.

“Clovis is such an asshole, I can’t believe it.” Erika seemed upset. She started complaining at the first opportunity, as soon as she was alone with Kina. 

“Do you want to know what he said about my dad when I told him he died on the wall?” She didn’t wait for Kina’s answer and just continued right away. “I don’t even really remember it because it made me so mad. ‘That’s the fate of the weak’,” she mocked his voice, “or some crap like that. Gods!”

“That sounds like him. Don’t listen to his crap.”

“Also, is he hitting on me or something? I have such a hard time telling when he’s serious or not. Creep.”

“He probably just wants to provoke you. Johnson alway told me that Clovis is the kind of guy who isn’t into girls.”

“Oh.”

“Or anyone...or anything else, I think?” Kina shrugged. “Except fighting, of course. That’s all he seems to care about.”

“I’m not even surprised at this point. Guess that gets him going, huh? Hope his armor isn’t too tight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Forget it. Although I’m starting to wonder. Why is he even in the Deep Order and not one of the real combat units, like Edelweiss or Phoenix?” asked Erika.

“If you want to get on his bad side, ask him that. It’s a bit of a sore spot for him. Just do me a favour and wait until I’m far away.”

“Ooh...okay, what’s the story?”

Kina looked to make sure he wasn’t coming back right now. “As far as I know...turns out the people in the frontline units don’t like having someone like him around, either. Too unpredictable, or something. Of course, he sees it just as a big conspiracy against him.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I heard they’re all about teamwork and discipline all that...so I guess you weren’t joking. The Depths really  _ are _ for the losers and the weirdos.”

“Hah, yeah…” She looked around, scratching the back of her ear. “Uh, by the way, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever heard about something called the New Dawn Institute?”

“Uhh...why are you asking this? What is that?”

“I don’t know! That’s why I ask. It seems to be something up in the Tower, and since you live there, well, I thought…”

“New Dawn Institute, you say?” The knight thought for a moment. “Doesn’t really ring a bell, I’m afraid. But, well, the Tower is huge and there’s a lot of organizations and whatnot with generic names like that. So that’s not saying much.”

“If you see something, can you please tell me?”

“Sure, I guess. Although, don’t count on it. I don’t really have much free time right now, because, well. I’m happy for every hour of sleep I get.”

“Yes, of course. But still, thanks!”

“No problem.” The knight looked over where the fires were burning. “Damn, that stench. I can smell it even through my air filter.”

“At least you have one, all I got is this crappy mask.”

“I wish they could at least give you better equipment.”

“Using valuable materials to make the lives of Spirits easier?” asked Kina in a snarky voice. “What’s your next idea, catching some krell to breed them as livestock?”

“Pfah! Oh, you know what? Why don’t you just go and eat a piece? I’m wondering what they taste like.”

“You mean, I just describe the taste to you while I die an agonizing death?”

“I want all the details.”

“Good job, you made me even more sick than this stench.”

“Hah! Take that.”

 

For a minute, they just quietly observed the smoke clouds.

“Erika? Random question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think Spirits could have souls?”

The knight thought for a moment. “You mean, like, a consciousness? Of course, you have one.”

“Nono, I mean, uh, how would you describe it…”

“Oh wait, that other thing? That lives on even after you die? Like people in the past believed it?”

“Some still believe it.”

The knight shrugged. “They can believe in whatever they want. But the Exalted said that Humans have no souls, and they are infinitely smarter than me, and the have done all this research in the Old World and whatnot. So who am I to say they are wrong?”

“They actually said that?”

“It’s all in the Guide.”

“Yeah, I’ve never read that thing.”

“We had excerpts in school. And well, I guess if Humans have no souls, then Spirits don’t have any, either?”

“Makes sense. But that’s...a bit sad, isn’t it.”

“Maybe, but what isn’t? There’s nothing after death, the gods are gone, our future is pretty much dead. Not much left to believe in these days.”

Kina took a step back, surprised by this sudden burst of bleakness. “Damn. And I thought I could get cynical. Are you...are you serious right now? With the future?” 

Erika looked to the ground, shaking her head. “Well, what do you think? The Administration keeps saying they’re going to find a solution, but come on. 600 years, and nothing? Okay, some still believe in the Exalted, that one day, they’ll come back and ‘evacuate’ us or what it is they call it. But nothing is happening. And we’re just barely holding on.”

“You think we’ll lose this war?”

“Well, we’re not exactly winning it, are we? We have to win every battle.  _ They _ only have to win one. Sooner or later, something will go wrong, and then we’re all gone. And with us, ten thousand years of Human history. Like we never existed.”

“But the Heirs…”

“They’re forgetting, Kina. They’ll forget us, too. They will just live forever and forget everything. If we’re lucky, maybe some legends will remain or something, I don’t know. But maybe that’s why some people choose to believe in souls. Maybe it gives them the hope that  _ something _ will remain, even when we’re gone, not matter what. But I’m not convinced.”

“I didn’t realize you...were thinking like this.”

“Yeah.” She sighed wearily. “Crap. Listen to me, all bitter and stuff.”

“Guys! You w-won’t believe what just ha-happened!” shouted a Spirit who just came running from the direction of the wall, on a path past the damaged zone. Kina recognized him as Pin, the nervous one from yesterday.

“What is it?” asked another Spirit as he caught his breath.

“There was a M-Metahuman at the wall! I spoke to her, she was really s-super nice!”

“What you say, you mean an Heir? Are you sure?”

“Yes! She, uh, t-told me about how they l-live out there and such! It’s so different!”

“Hey, Erika...have you ever seen one?” asked Kina, while Pin was gushing about his encounter to a growing number of curious Spirits.

“An Heir? In person, just once, when I was little. There was a group of visitors one day. But I didn’t really see much of them, they were all wearing these protective suits and we children were told to stay away, since they are dangerous.”

“Hm, then you’re ahead of me. I always managed to miss them, so all I saw were the usual pictures and recordings.”

“It’s a bit different in person, certainly. I remember that...for one moment, I could see their eyes. That really stuck in my memory.”

“Because they’re so strange, huh?”

“Mhm. Although, I…” Erika fell silent. She thought for a moment, shifting her weight from one leg to the other and back. “I don’t know. Probably sounds weird, but it seemed like they were...like, entirely free of pain and worry and all that?” She shrugged. “Believe it or not. Ever since then, I noticed how much of this is in the eyes of almost all the people in this place. Like something you realize existed only after it’s gone.”

Kina scratched her ear. “How do you Humans do that so well, seeing all these things in each other’s faces?”

“Eh, well, maybe I just imagined it...”

“Hmm,” Kina shot a glance at the huge towers looming in the distance above the city, “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right, though.”

“I often wonder what it’s like. Being like them.”

“You mean, immortal and all that?”

“I mean free...just imagine, the lives they must live...” She fell silent and looked towards the group that had formed around Pin. Unsure what to say, Kina looked over too and decided to listen.

“What, you didn’t ask why she was here?”

“I-I don’t know! I think she said something about bringing s-somebody here, to Orchid!”

“Another Heir?”

“No, j-just some guy, I don’t know. S-sorry...”

“You think she’ll be back tomorrow?”

“Ah, she w-wanted to stay for a bit, so m-maybe!”

“Oooh!” piped somebody up, sounding excited. “Maybe we can ask her more about those villages they have? Do you think they’re like the ones we have in the Garden?”

“Kina.” Erika spoke with a low and serious voice. After thinking for a moment, she continued, without taking her sight off the talking Spirits. “If this person shows up again...can you try and talk to her? Ask her about the one she led here.”

“Okay...why?”

“Because, well,” she took a deep breath, “another gut feeling, I guess. This time it’s a really weird one, though.”

 

\----------

 

The woman down on the ground had strange, dark eyes, elongated ears and what looked like black smooth lines, or maybe cracks in her skin, over her joints, giving her limbs a little bit of a segmented look. Her clothing looked handmade, a light tunic and pants, as well as a simple shoulder bag. Her outfit had a few decorations that looked like carved plastic. It took Kina a moment to realize that this must be krell carapace. She had one in her hair as well, looking like a flower, simple but pretty.

So she had come back, after all. Kina was just catching her breath from running up the stairs to the wall. There were already plenty of curious Spirits, all trying to talk to her at once. The Heir just smiled patiently.

Somebody asked the her how old she was, and she casually mentioned she had been born in the Old World. That meant she was a “first gen”, as they called it.

Kina trembled at the realization, and other Spirits were gasping and murmuring as well. The Old World seemed so incredibly far away, and this being had seen it with her own eyes, despite only looking maybe a few years older than Erika, at most. 

And of course, she would still be here, long after everyone in this place was gone. 

Sure, Kina had  _ known _ that people like this existed. Two billion of them, in fact, the vast majority of Earth’s population. But since they preferred to stay away from Orchid, it was surprisingly easy to forget that. As much as the Orchidians liked to pretend they were the “normal” Humans, in reality it was them who were now the exception in this world. 

“H-hey!” she shouted, pushing two other, protesting Spirits to the side while trying to get to the front. “Is it true that you brought somebody here?”

“Oh, you mean Evan! Have you heard anything about him? I’m starting to wonder what happened.”

“Evan…? No, I don’t know anything about someone with this name. But, uhm, can I ask, who was he?”

“Oh, Evan is an Angel! He’s on a mission for Besa right now.”

“Has anyone a clue what she’s talking about?” whispered one of the Spirits close to her. “She’s so funny. Heirs are so weird,” responded someone else.

Kina couldn’t make sense of it, either. Except… “Wait, an Angel?” she shouted down at the woman. “You mean, like...what they call an Operator?”

“Yup!”

“Was he, uh, wearing something like...a mask?”

“Sure!”

“Oh dear cosmos…” Kina took a sharp breath and looked around. The other Spirits had fallen silent, intrigued by her oddly specific questions. They looked at her, eager to see where this was going. Kina turned back to the Heir.

“Do you know why he came here?”

“He said it was some kind of surveillance mission. Originally they didn’t plan to come here, but they had to improvise.”

“What…? Are you sure about that?”

“That’s what they said.”

“They?”

“Sure!”

“Okay, uhm, where did he come from?”

The Heir simply raised her right hand and pointed at the sky. 

“Holy...when was that?”

She raised three more fingers.

“Four...you mean, four days ago?”

“You got it, little one!”

Kina’s thoughts were racing. Her hands were trembling and her neck itching terribly. “Th-thank you!” she stuttered. “I have, I have to go!” With that, she ran off.

 

On her way back, she met Ms. Mackenzie, one of the Human supervisors during the cleanup. The filter mask she was wearing left her eyes free, so Kina could see the angry glance she was throwing her. But she didn’t say anything and let her run past. Kina thought of the other Spirits, who were certainly about to get yelled at, but it was too late to warn them now.

 

“Erika, can we talk for a moment? Alone?”

Clovis was nowhere to be seen, again.

But Kun was still around, and he started complaining immediately. “Oh come on. I covered for you and everything, and now I don’t even get to hear what all of this is about?”

Kina sighed and looked around to make sure nobody else was close by. “Okay, fine. Erika, have you heard anything about an Operator arriving in Orchid?”

“Operator? You mean, like-”

“Yes.”

A moment of silence. “No. Command hasn’t given out any information about someone like this and I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed if they had mentioned it on the civilian broadcasts. I’ve been listening to them through my helmet system all day.”

“Apparently he arrived yesterday. Tell me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t this mean he’s the first to come here since...centuries?”

“Yeah. Probably. Unless, of course, others came here without us noticing. Which is entirely possible. Or the Administration has kept it secret, which is also entirely possible...but yeah.”

“Damn Kina, you’re getting really worked up about this guy,” commented Kun, but she ignored him.

“Okay, you know what the weirdest part is? He was dropped down to Earth four days ago.”

“And?”

“That’s three days after we, you know…remember?”

“Ooh. Damn, you’re right. You think there’s a connection?”

“I don’t know!” Kina pulled her ears down hard enough to tilt her head back, while walking back and forth. “I don’t understand anything anymore! There’s suddenly so much weird stuff happening! Seriously, what is going on here?!”

“Maybe it’s just a weird coincidence?”

Kina took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, before she continued. “Yes, maybe. But still. Argh, think! Something’s been bothering me. Erika, do you remember what Miji said before the angler got him?”

“Uhm, that he didn’t find anything?”

“Yeah, but...well, I didn’t gave it much thought at first, but now...didn’t he actually say something like, ‘I felt something but couldn’t get to it, so I only…’, before we interrupted him? ‘I only’  _ what _ ? What was he about to say?”

“...crap. I was the one who cut him off, wasn’t I? I don’t really remember. And of course I had forgotten to turn the recording back on.”

“Did you see what he was doing when the Watch got active? Or when they got crazy?”

“Kina, I was looking literally everywhere else.”

“Dammit! I didn’t pay attention to him, either. But maybe it wasn’t a coincidence, maybe it was something he did…”

“Maybe, but that’s really just speculating now.”

“Uh, guys...what are you talking about?” Kun looked confused. “Did you actually find something strange back then? I thought you said-”

Kina cursed herself internally. But it was too late now. “Not now, Kun. I’ll explain this later. Damn, I guess that means this weird phone call was real, too.”

“What phone call?” asked Erika.

“I first thought it was a prank or something. Maybe I just really wished it was...anyway, I don’t know who it was. They just gave me some kind of cryptic warning about this New Dawn Institute thing.”

“Shoot. You think they’re connected too? Should we really investigate them?”

“Wait, you got warned about the Institute?” asked Kun. The other two turned to him. He looked a little shocked.

“You know them?”

“I, erm, yes, they’re, I mean, uh, what was it again...they’re this Human thing, right? I think they’re trying to recover the Old World? Or something? I’m not really sure…”

“Wait. Where did you learn about that?”

He raised his hands. “I just...my old job, we had to deal with them once or twice…delivering stuff, you know?”

“Do you know anything else?” asked Kina, trying to sound not too excited.

“Uh. Not really. I mean, sure, they’re in Tower 5 somewhere. Level two-hundred something? Ah, I really don’t remember. Sorry.”

“You don’t even remember the level?”

He shrugged. “Come on. It really didn’t seem important at the time.”

She shook her head. “That’s too bad, but...alright.”

The other Spirits came back and hurried back to work, followed by the supervisor.

“Kina, do you think she’s still there?” asked Erika.

“The Heir? No idea. Maybe?”

“I, I would like to…” she fell silent, shifted her weight and took a deep breath. “Ah, crap, whatever! I  _ have _ to talk to one of them! Just once!” She then ran off.

 

But when she came back and saw the other’s faces, she shook her head.

“Guess I was too late. Dammit! Should’ve taken the risk and gone with you, Kina.”

“Maybe she’ll be back tomorrow?”

“I hope.”


	9. The New World

“Good morning, everyone!” shouted Mr. Yong, the supervisor, to his gathered salvagers.

It was the early morning of the next day, and they were all assembled for something, although nobody knew what exactly. Kina was standing towards the right side of the group. She got a bad feeling when some knights showed up. She noticed one of them was of high rank, according to the decorations on their armor. They talked to Mr. Yong, who nodded.

“Alright. We need about two dozen volunteers. You,” he pointed at someone to the left of Kina, “and everyone to your right, thanks for volunteering. Get your dismantling tools and make sure your bio-protection is in order. The rest of you, dismissed! Get back to cleanup!”

Kina took off her filter mask and tossed it to the ground as hard as she could. The flexible material just made it bounce once or twice, before it came to rest.

“Hey, don’t break it. Looks like you’re gonna need it where you’re going now.” said Kun, who just arrived, having a whimsical smile on his face.

“Aren’t you a little late? Where have you been?”

“Oh, you know. Just doing some stuff.”

“Well.” She looked past him, over his shoulder. “I hope it was important enough.”

“Ah, don’t worry about me, it was merely-” His smile disappeared and he continued in a quieter voice. “He’s standing right behind me, isn’t he?”

Kina just nodded.

“Crap.” He turned around, and raised his gaze to meet Yong’s.

“How nice of you to join us, Kun.” 

Kina knew that tone. Someone was in trouble now. She decided to leave to get her stuff, and to not get caught up in any drama.

“I don’t know how things are handled in the factories, but in  _ my _ teams I expect…” and so on and so forth. 

She knew the music. She could do nothing to help Kun that would make things better in any way.

 

In the end, he “volunteered” as well.

 

\----------

 

A number of trucks came and transported them off, along with some knights and equipment. Nobody explained anything and some of the newer Spirits got visibly nervous. Eventually, they arrived at the large military base in Low City, stopped at the airfield and were told to get out.

Kina looked around while they were led towards a group of waiting Orkans. The itching on her neck got worse.

They came past what seemed to be a test of a large, four-legged machine, bearing the green colors and the dragon symbol of the Jade Order. Kina remembered that this was the Order usually tasked with testing whatever new technology the scientists and engineers of Tower 5 devised under field conditions. Kina spotted more machines of that kind in an open hangar. She shuddered. 

“So that rumor was true, then,” commented Kun, clearly no longer in the mood for jokes. “They’re still trying to get conventional robots ready for combat. Crazy. All because they refuse to trust us.”

“You’d prefer to have you core installed into one of those monstrosities?” snarked Kina. “And then get send off to the front, fight some krell?”

“Well if you put it like that...maybe not. Then again, aren’t there Spirits installed into the towers at the wall? I wonder how they do it.”

“As far as I know they’re isolated from each other and shielded from outside influence. Constant supervision. Not to mention, immobile.”

“Damn. Sounds lonely.”

“Yeah...Miji always said that too.”

“I just want to know why they aren’t trusting us,” wondered another salvager who was sitting close to Kina and Kun. “Because I’d be up for controlling one of those walkers!”

“Yon told me once they had tried that, long ago,” remembered Kina. “War Spirits, fighting at the frontlines to defend Orchid. Weird thought, huh? So, something happened, something bad...now we just get these small, weak bodies, and all the fighting is to be done by Humans. Or non-sentient A.I., I guess, if they can pull it off. Whatever the case, they  _ really _ don’t like the idea of Spirits having access to weapons.”

“Wow.” The other Spirit looked amazed. “You knew old Yon?”

“Who the heck is Yon?” asked Kun. But before Kina could answer, they had arrived at their destination and were led towards some waiting Orkans.

 

The Orkans were a typical Human creation - ugly and brutal, but also efficient and reliable. The old design, developed by the Orchidians to combat the krell many years ago, had proven itself since then. Rotating jet engines at the ends of their four wings allowed them to land and take off vertically, riveted armor plates provided protection and four gun turrets served as a basic defense against flying krell. They could be outfitted with additional weapons if necessary, like the ones Kina observed during the last attack. 

 

These, however, were apparently intended to serve as transports.

Three of the machines brandished the fiery, winged symbol of the Phoenix Order. The last one had a simple, stylized white lotus flower.

Kun nudged Kina and made a subtle gesture towards it. “Black Order.”

“Yes.”

“Damn. So this is serious enough for them to bring out the elite. I heard these guys are barely Human anymore.”

“Who knows.”

“And that’s one of the lesser crazy things going around. Did you know-”

“Spare me the rumors, Kun. I heard them all, and each sounded more like nonsense than the next.”

“Aw man. You’re no fun.”

 

\----------

 

“Hey there, fluffies.” The Phoenix knight had his helmet open, showing dark skin and a broad smile. He was looking into the hind cargo hold, where the Spirits had been cramped together. “Watch out, don’t lose those little ears. Just so you know, we just crossed the wall. Hope you’re enjoying our little trip to hell!” When he saw the shocked faces he laughed. “Aww don’t worry! We’ll protect you from all those evil bugs! Come on, don’t be so scared. This is exciting!”

Suddenly he got pushed harshly to the side by another knight, apparently an officer, who took his place looking back. 

He started shouting immediately. “Alright you little shits, my name is Captain Revich. I’m not a fan of you being on this mission, but that wasn’t my decision. One week ago one of our towers shot down something airborne. According to the log files, it wasn’t any type of known krell, but something that came from space. Recon says it’s pretty big and mostly intact, so the brass is now smelling lost technology and rare alloys and whateverthefuck. Now guess why you are here.”

One of the Spirits actually raised her hand. The knight simply ignored her and continued.

“Everyone on the right side is now Group 1. Left side, Group 2. Remember that.”

Kina was sitting on the left side, Kun on the right. So apparently it was number two for her and one for him. 

The knight leaned forward and continued in a low, intense voice. “I’m gonna make this one thing clear. The safety of my knights has the absolute priority. Any of you fuck up, doesn’t make it back to the birds in time, doesn’t matter, I don’t care. We’ll leave you behind, and we won’t come back. The same will happen when you don’t follow your orders. Don’t you dare forget that. Any questions? No? Good!”

He turned back and left the Spirits to process what he just said. 

Kina just laid back and closed her eyes. She had never been outside the wall. Aside from the pioneers, few Spirits ever left the safety of Orchid, and even those only worked in what they called ‘Acheron’, the dead zone right beyond the wall, where the turrets covered them. Entering the untameable wilderness beyond that was incredibly dangerous, even for heavily armed knights. Any Spirits left behind to fend for themselves would have no chance at making it back alive.

The back of her neck was itching horribly.

 

\----------

 

“Area secure!” shouted a female knight from somewhere outside the Orkan. 

The knight who had talked to them earlier, now with helmet closed, hit a button. The loading ramp opened. “Alright, out with you! Hurry!”

Kina stumbled out of the machine alongside the other Spirits, and was greeted by something she had never seen in her entire life, except in a few pictures, none of which did the real thing justice. 

They had landed on what seemed to be a large clearing in a wild forest, but it was nothing like anything she had experienced in all her years in the Garden. Nothing could have ever prepared her for this overwhelming sight.

There were trees and plants, but there was something strange and unusual about all of them. A few looked vaguely similar to certain Old World types she was familiar with, but only at first glance. Others were much more alien, and there were also growths and sprouts that didn’t seem to be plants at all. Maybe they were some kind of fungus, or something else entirely.

Most importantly, everything seemed so much bigger and intense, it was staggering. The trees grew high into the sky, supporting themselves with enormous roots. Thick carpets of moss or lichen clung to to their trunks and branches, in some parts hanging down or being overgrown with climbing vines showing huge leaves. Kina saw flowers with blossoms larger than herself, showing some of the purest colors she had ever seen. 

She gasped as a delicate, transparent lifeform floated by, right in front of her face. It didn’t even seem to notice her, as it kept drifting on the light breeze, reminding her of one of those ocean organisms she had seen in one of the Old World documentaries they were often broadcasting.

From what she could make out under her filter mask, the air was light and a little sweet. It was almost pleasant, until she remembered how toxic it was. Whatever caused this sweet scent was probably deadly. The weird, thick moss under her feet was deadly. Even that floating creature…deadly. Only her bio-protection was keeping her alive right now.

Another thing was the sound. The Garden was often very quiet, with only a few insects, birds and small animals having survived to this day to break the silence. Here was constant noise, an endless symphony of buzzing, chirping, screeching, rustling and who knows what else. Kina had no idea how the creatures making these noises might even look like. 

This place was teeming with life, on a scale she would have never believed if she wasn’t seeing it for herself.

 

In the middle of the clearing was a thing that was not alive. A burned and broken thing, about four meters high, or it would’ve been so high if it wasn’t leaning so heavily to the side. Nature was already trying to overgrow and reclaim it - normally Kina would’ve estimated that it must have been standing here for months at least, but this was New World vegetation, and no rules she knew applied anymore.

A few Human experts with civilian hazard suits were investigating it, while the Spirits were told to wait and the knights spread out further to secure the area. Finally, the lead scientist went to the Captain, shaking their head and talking to the commanding knight about something. 

The latter turned around towards the Spirits. “Alright, enough admiring the scenery! Looks like it’s busted. Group 1, do your thing! Slice it up and get everything onto the machines! Should you find any components looking like they might still work, shout!”

The addressed Spirits, including Kun, started moving, some of them already firing up their plasma cutters.

“Group 2, spread out and search the area. Pick up any debris, and report if you find anything interesting! Move it, move it! We don’t have much time!”

Kina did as told, and started looking around.

 

“What are we even looking for? Everything looks so weird, how are we supposed to find anything in this place?” asked a fellow member of Group 2, sounding confused and frustrated. 

The other Spirits just murmured, obviously not having an answer, either.

“Look at the plants,” Kina told them, “see if anything looks out of the ordinary. Like they’ve been damaged or so.”

“Okay, but...?”

“I’m just guessing.” She shrugged. “Used to be a gardener.”

“A-alright. Yeah, guess that’s the best we got. Come, let’s get going before the Humans get angry.”

Despite her past experience with plants, Kina had trouble following her own advice.  _ How do you see something out of the ordinary when everything was out of the ordinary?  _

At least the other Spirits now looked busy…

 

She caught herself staring at a bush that was blooming with intensely yellow flowers. Tiny creatures were buzzing and fluttering around it, ignoring her entirely. This place was scary, but also incredible. She suddenly wished she had more time to explore it.

Kina was about to turn away when she noticed something and went to get a closer look. A branch had been broken off not too long ago, and new ones were already sprouting from the damaged part. Usually she would’ve expected this to have happened weeks ago, but…

She could find a few additional traces like that, somewhat leading away from the space object, towards a particularly dense part of small trees and brushwood.

Kina looked around. Did none of the knights check this part? 

She decided to follow the traces, although she wasn’t sure what to expect. Probably some kind of...animal, or whatever lived here. That...got scared when the thing had landed. Yeah, that had to be it.

She froze. On a heavily shaded spot with only minimal plant life she saw something resembling a Human footprint. It was hard to make out, and perhaps this shape was just a weird coincidence. But if it wasn’t, then it was too old to be from one of the knights...and it was leading in the same direction as the other traces.

Quickly looking around, she noticed that nobody seemed to care about what she was doing. The space object, now illuminated by the flashes and sparks of the plasma cutters, was getting most of the attention.

Kina decided to follow the tracks.

 

The thicket was so dense, she had problems getting through, even with her small size. The damage was much clearer now. Whoever had come through here was obviously not used to this kind of environment.

She made a relieved sigh when it abruptly cleared up. She raised her head. Her emotional cortex clamped down on her consciousness when she spotted the krell, making her fur stand on end and she couldn’t suppress a small shriek.

 

The moment of terror lasted only a second, until she realized they were all dead.

Four or five of them. Nature had already started to reclaim their corpses as well. Still, it made her fully aware of how incredibly dangerous it was what she was doing here.

Kina cursed herself for her curiosity. It was probably better if she went back immediately.

Still...it almost seemed like there had been a fight in this place. Suppressing the desire for self-preservation, a part of her core functions, she decided to take a look around.

Carefully making her way past the corpses, she came across something that stood out as somewhat unnatural. It looked almost like...some kind of grave. 

 

Dead Spirits got recycled, of course, but the Humans had this weird custom where they buried the bodies of their dead. They even had a few places in the Garden specifically for this, called graveyards.

 

She stared at it. So somebody had died here...the person whose tracks she had been following? But who had buried them? The grave was even decorated with flowers…

“Oh, hello there.”

Kina jumped and spun around. Someone else had come on the small clearing, a male Human...no, an Heir, obviously. She hadn’t heard him make the tiniest sound. He was wearing simple clothing and his hair was long and a little wild, but he was otherwise clean and had a friendly smile.

“Who...what are you, if I may ask?” 

Kina managed to get over her shock. “O-oh. Yeah, sorry. I’m Kina. I, uh, am a Spirit,” she added when she realized he might have never seen one of her kind, even though saying that felt a little weird.

“A spirit of the forest…?”

“Wha- nono, I mean, I’m a Spirit of Orchid. You know, that place where, uh…”

His eyes went wide and Kina fell silent when she saw the color of his irises shift from orange to a light green. The rest of his eyes, the scleras, were black like shiny ink.

“Oh, the big fortress where the, uh, other people live, right? Yes, it’s not that far from here. No wonder you’re wearing this strange clothing. Haha, my apologies. I should have realized.” He turned his head towards the direction of the landing site. “Sounds like you brought friends, too. No wonder there was so much noise.”

Kina tried to listen, but she couldn’t hear anything at this distance. Only the omnipresent forest noises. The hearing of this person must be incredible.

“Spirits…” he mumbled to himself, lost in thought. “A status granted only to artificial or synthetic universal intelligence that has proven its sentience by passing the SCITE version 1 or higher...”

Kina took a moment to process what he just said. It was not something she would have expected from someone living in a forest. “That’s...correct. Although I never took the test. We just get created with the proper specifications.”

“Ah.” He closed his eyes and shook his head a little as if trying to snap out of something. “Sorry. Yes. I just remembered this. You must be a kobold type. I used to work with you guys back in the Old World. Damn, that was long ago...oh! Where are my manners. My name is Marten Linnes.”

What she had assumed to be markings on his forehead twitched. She suddenly realized they were holes of some kind. Maybe part of the respiratory system? 

Just one of the many things that were different about them. The Humans she was used to might look superficially similar to the Heirs, but internally they were much more comparable to  _ her _ than this person. A thought that made her shudder, even though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

Like all Spirits, she was a product of the Old World. Even though she felt no connection whatsoever to this lost and distant past that the Orchidians revered so much...it was a truth that had never been so undeniable as in this very moment.

She snapped out of her daze, realizing she was staring. “Uh, right... hello Mr. Linnes. Can I ask, what are you doing here?”

“I live here.”

“Here? In the forest?”

“Yes. I’m taking a bit of a time-out. Trying to clear my head. Forget a few things.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“So I can experience them again, for the first time, of course!”

“Wh-what?” She stared at him for a moment. “Do you mean you are, like, resetting your memories?”

“Resetting...hmm, yes. That’s a word you could use for it, I think.”

“Is that a common thing to do for, uh, your people?”

“Hmm, not really, actually. Most are too scared, or think it is silly. Or they are just too attached to their memories. But others did it before me, and more will do it after, no doubt. There are many reasons one might want to take a time-out, actually. Maybe you want to get rid of something unpleasant, or heal a broken heart...”

“Uh, okay...how long does that take?”

“Not too long. In total no more than a hundred years, at most.”

_ A hundred years are ‘not too long’. _ Kina shook her head, trying to understand what she was hearing, without much success. 

Then she just let out a defeated sigh. “Damn. And I thought the Humans in our place are weird.”

He laughed. “Maybe you’ll understand after you’ve lived as long as I did.”

“Yeah...I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“There was a time when I thought that, too.” He looked towards the grave. “You came here looking for her, didn’t you? The lady from space?”

“Lady from space?” Kina’s ears rose a littler. “I mean...yeah, sure. I followed something that looked like tracks and ended up here.”

He nodded. “I see. I guess someone had to come looking for her eventually.”

“Have you seen her? Who was she?” She noticed his eyes shifting to blue. 

_ Is there any kind of meaning of this? _

“She came down with the landing pod your friends are destroying right now.”

“Uhm...that’s, erm…”

“But something bad happened. It crashed and she wasn’t...okay. She made it to this place somehow, where she got attacked by the warriors. She killed them with a...uh, device she carried. A weapon of some kind. But she got hurt even more. That’s when I found her. I had heard the noise and came to investigate.” He made a little pause. “She was bleeding. Her blood was so bright...I told her it would be okay, that it would stop. It always stops when we get hurt. But for her, it didn’t stop. And then…”

“She died…?”

He nodded, looking downward. “At first I didn’t realize. I feel so ashamed now. I had forgotten people could do that. Can you believe that? I had no idea what I should do...” He made another pause before continuing. Kina could tell that this was hard for him. “I went back to the village and asked them. Some remembered that people in the past buried their dead in the ground. And so that’s what we did…”

They both looked at the grave, silently, for a moment.

 

“That’s...uhm, maybe a weird question,” Kina broke the silence, “but was she wearing some kind of mask?”

“Oh! Yes, she did. It was white, like fresh snow.”

“So she was an Operator, too…”

“Right, that’s the word she used. Although a friend who helped called her an Angel.”

Kina swallowed.  _ Another one. What did the knight captain say, this happened a week ago? _ Seven days...one day after they had found the dead body in the Depths. And then, two days later, the other one, that was brought to Orchid by the lady she had met at the wall.

This couldn’t be a coincidence, or could it?

Why had the Exalted decided to make a move now?

Would there be any consequences for the Orchidians for shooting down one of their agents?

_ Should I go back and report all this? _

“Where is it? The mask, I mean. And the other stuff she had?” she asked.

“Oh, we just put it all with her into the grave. It felt like the right thing to do.”

Kina’s fingers twitched. Exalted tech. Not ancient, but new. Right in front of her. All she had to do was get rid of him, dig it up, then she would just tell the others that she…

For a moment, she remembered Miji, as he was dragged away from her. 

_ All my fault. _

_ No. Not this again. _

No. She was done with stealing from the dead.

 

Trying to shake off those dark thoughts she asked the first thing that popped into her mind. “How were they, back then? The Spirits of the Old World, I mean.”

He smiled and his eyes shifted again. “Oh, I think most were just like you. I mean, they didn’t necessarily look like you, although some certainly did. Some had different kinds of bodies. Some had no physical form at all!”

Kina’s ears perked up with interest.

The Heir noticed and laughed. “Exciting, huh?”

“And the Exalted? Is it true that they were Spirits, too?” A part at the back of her mid reminded her that this kind of curiosity could get her wiped. She silenced it by reminding herself that the SPS was far away right now.

The fact that the smile vanished from his face got her concerned, though.

“That’s one hell of a question.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to-”

“Don’t worry about it.” The smile returned. “Curiosity isn’t a crime. They were gods. And they were ancient long before even I was born. So who knows, really?”

“Who knows, indeed. But are you sure about the crime part?” she smirked. “I’ve met people who would disagree on that.”

“These people must be very scared.” He laughed, but suddenly stopped. He turned around and stared intensely into the forest.

“What is-” started Kina, but she was cut off by a sharp hand movement.

“Shhh. Warriors are coming. Many of them...hundreds, I believe. They are really angry...you should leave now. And warn your friends. I won’t be able to calm them down.”

Kina started trembling when she realized what he just told her. 

“Warriors? Krell? A swarm?”

“You need to leave, now!”

“Y-yeah. Goodbye, uh, Mr. Linnes. Thank you.”

“It was a joy to meet you, Kina of Orchid. Farewell!”


	10. Shadows

She made her way back as fast as she could. For a tiny, horrible moment she thought she had gotten lost, when she suddenly didn’t recognize the area anymore. But she just kept on pushing forward, and ended up back on the large clearing anyway, just in a different spot. How the Heirs were able to get around in this place was beyond her.

The knight captain and some other, higher ranking Humans turned around when she came running.

“Th-they’re coming,” she gasped, out of breath, “the krell are coming!”

“What?” answered the lead scientist. She was a tall woman wearing civilian, white bio-protection, leaving little more than her eyes visible under a pair of protective goggles.

“I, I just talked to an Heir. He warned me. It’s an entire swarm! We have to leave, now!”

“Nonsense. We’re not picking up anything so far. Get back to work, now.”

Kina looked at the other Humans, but no one else said anything. She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes and started walking backwards. “Y-you have to believe me, I…”

They weren’t listening. Of course they weren’t listening, what did she expect?  _ Why would they listen to a stupid little Spirit? _

When she looked around, she could make out the scared faces of other Spirits who had heard the exchange. At least they seemed to believe her…

But then, suddenly, the captain moved a little and gripped his weapon tighter. “We’re leaving.”

“What!?” protested the lead scientist. “We’re not done here! Don’t tell me you believe this crap!”

“This is a military operation, and I am the commanding officer. If I say we leave, then we leave.”

“But-”

“I don’t have to explain SHIT!” exploded the knight. “GET! MOVING!”

“Fine, fine! Whatever!” She turned around and started shouting. “Group 2, grab what you got and back to the machine! Group 1, stay where you are, you all finish what you’re currently doing first!”

The other knight officers were also talking into their commlinks to order their squads around.

 

About a minute later, a heavy machine gun started hammering somewhere out of sight. It must’ve been one of the Black Order, who were still using kinetic weapons. Swarms of small, flying creatures who had been sitting in the trees took off, screeching angrily at the disturbance.

Some of the Spirits dismantling the pod dropped what they were holding and started running towards the Orkan. Kina saw Kun among them.

The lead scientist pulled out a handgun and fired it at the ground in front of them, stopping them in their tracks. “Back to work, now! I said, finish what you were doing and bring the parts to the transporter! I swear, I’m gonna fucking shoot every single one of you who runs!”

The Spirits looked terrified and some of them started crying, but they followed the order and went back.

More machine guns started going off, and the bright flares of plasma fire could be seen flashing through the trees. 

Kina was standing at the ramp of the Orkan, staring back in horror at the scene, while the other Spirits from her group were already entering behind her. More and more knights came back into view, in an organized retreat as they kept firing at an unseen enemy in the forest. The Phoenix knights came first, while the Black Order covered the fall back, each one of them moving in a calm and almost unnaturally controlled fashion. 

 

Overall there had been three full squads of knights plus officers and civilians, no more than forty Humans in total. It was clear that they wouldn’t stand a chance against the krell. Not against a swarm, not in an open battle.

 

The noise of the escalating fight quickly became deafening. Gunfire, Humans shouting and screaming, the roaring engines of the Orkans preparing for lift-off, and the unsettling screeches of the krell filled the air. They were still not in sight, but they must be very close now.

One of the other machines already closed its ramp and took off.

More and more Spirits were done and tried their best to carry the parts they had cut off to the nearest Orkan, before running towards their own transporter. But some of them were still not done. Kina could make out Kun, as he desperately tried to tear off a part of the outer hull. Others seemed to have trouble, too, and were visibly freaking out. The scientist screamed at them to hurry up, still threatening them with her gun.

Then, finally, one of the knights grabbed her by the arm, shouting something and dragging the protesting Human onto one of the remaining Orkans. A few more knights hopped on and the machine took off as well. Now only the one that had transported the Spirits and the Black Order machine were still on the ground.

With the scientist gone, Kun and the other remaining Spirits on the pod dropped their work once more, and started sprinting towards their transporter. The knights still on the ground did the same, with only the black ones keeping their formation during their retreat. 

Kina had never seen them in action. Now she noticed how weirdly fast they were, carrying their heavy kinetic guns and plasma lances as if they were plastic toys.

 

The flying Orkans opened fire with their board weapons as dozens, hundreds of furious krell stormed onto the clearing. Projectiles and plasma fire tore into the attackers, but it wasn’t enough to even slow them down.

One of the knights running up the ramp snatched Kina, who was shouting at the fleeing Spirits to hurry up, and tossed her onto what turned out to be a stack of scrap metal. She hit her head hard enough to crash her consciousness. 

 

When she was done rebooting they were already in the air, flying home.

Kun was once again sitting in front of her, now visibly shaken. When he noticed her waking up, he stared at her for a moment. “That was the scariest thing of my life.”

Kina agreed weakly. “Same here. Can’t wait to go back to the anglers and tunnel worms.” She tried to be snarky out habit, but it fell flat.

“And I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you on this. Man, I always thought the New World sucked, but it’s even worse than I imagined. I wish it would just disappear forever.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Kun didn’t respond. He just leaned back and closed his eyes. Everyone remained silent for the rest of the flight.

 

\----------

 

“Did we lose anyone?” asked Kina, while they were waiting for decontamination.

“I heard a few knights got hit with some acid stuff and had their armor corroded.” answered another Spirit. Now that they had their masks off, Kina recognized her as Tara. She was a fellow salvager, but they had never really worked together or talked much. 

“They’re now worried about infections, but nobody is dead so far.”

“Spirits?”

“All made it back. But it was crazy close.”

Kina closed her eyes, relieved.

“Man, I bet the High Command is pissed,” commented Kun. “Whoever had decided that we didn’t need an air monitor or gunships must be in so much trouble right now.”

“To be fair,” said Tara, “who would’ve expected  _ that _ ? Such a quick response, and a horde this big? So short after a major attack, too. Something like that has never happened, right?”

“I don’t think so,” answered Kun.

Kina groaned. ”Is everyone resistant to learning or something? Doing unexpected stuff is the entire shtick of those things. Every time you  _ assume _ anything about them, it just comes back to bite you. You can never, ever be too careful.”

“Yeah that’s true!” agreed Tara. “If one of us hadn’t warned them, this could’ve gotten real ugly. Come to think of it, who was that, anyway?”

“N-no idea.” Kina shrugged, not to keen on getting any attention because of that.  ”We all look kind of the same in those suits, right? Haha…” She reached for the back of her neck, realizing too late what she was doing. 

Tara looked at her suspiciously, but just for a little moment. “Yeah...well, whoever it was, they probably should stay quiet about it. I mean, it’s not like the Humans will acknowledge it. They’ll praise the captain for his,” she made air quotes, “‘intuition’ or ‘quick thinking’ or whatever, and that will be the end of it.”

Kina nodded, actually hoping she was right. “Yeah...wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”

Kun suddenly started coughing. “Ah, shoot. My mask came off when I was running. Tried to hold my breath, but…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll all get those nanobody injections anyway.”

“Aw no, I hate those,” whined Tara. “Always make me feel like crap for days.”

“Better than the alternative,” reminded Kina.

“I guess. Hope we’re done soon.” Tara suddenly had a broad grin on her face. ”I can’t wait to tell the others everything about what happened. Just imagine, we’ll be heroes for weeks after this!”

 

\----------

 

Kina wasn’t in the mood for any kind of celebration. The salvagers who had been part of the operation hadn’t gotten any kind of bonus or other reward, but at least they were exempted from further cleanup duty and free for the next days. The Humans had indeed not cared who the mysterious Spirit who had given the warning was. But among the Spirits themselves, the rumors were already going hot. This meant only more reasons to make herself scarce, before someone recognized her voice or something like that.

 

Finally, back to Low City. No more dead, half-dead or living krell, no more field kitchen food, no more filter masks, no more cold nights, no more fighting. Kina got off the train, stretched and took a deep breath. The smells of the city. Not as nice as the Garden, but still much better than burning krell...or sweet, deadly New World miasma.

As she walked towards the large residential building where she had her apartment, she noticed a glitch. A movement in the corner of her eye. Nothing unusual, she had seen similar things many times in the Depths.

_ In the Depths. Glitches happen in the Depths. Never on the surface. _

She turned her head to look, but there was nothing to be seen. The hair on her back was standing on end. Seeing things that weren’t there was something that might happen to a Human, but the perception system of a Spirit was flawless under normal conditions. 

 

If her core started malfunctioning, she would go insane. Then they would send her to maintenance, where they most likely would perform a full reset and a scramble. There was no other way to get rid of Spirit insanity. But that meant loss not only of her memories, but also her personality profile. They would take away everything, and even give her a new number and name. Nothing of her old life would remain.

That was, if she was lucky. Should they decide her core couldn’t be saved, they’d just send her off to recycling. The body of a Spirit could be replaced, the core could not.

 

She calmed herself down. No need to freak out over this. There were a hundred possible explanations for this, none of which involved her core breaking down. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from hurrying, running the last part of the way, not stopping until she had closed the door behind her.

It was about time for her to get some sleep.

 

Of course, Spirits technically didn’t need to sleep, and they didn’t do it the way Humans did it, either. But their organic bodies needed to rest on a regular basis, otherwise they’d get sore first, then weaker and weaker, before they’d eventually give out entirely. If certain rumors were to be believed, that still happened sometimes, when malicious supervisors forced their Spirits to literally work until they dropped. 

Those same bodies also didn’t provide enough bioelectrical energy to fully support their cores, either. Therefore the cores had auxiliary batteries that needed to be recharged through a port in the neck-interfaces, one of the few that weren’t screwed shut. And so they ‘slept’, using a simple power-savings mode.

 

Kina got the cable ready and took a deep breath, staring at the plug. Mystery energy, straight from the Reality Mill, or whatever that thing in the Depths was called. They could’ve had wireless charging, but for some reason the Humans didn’t want the Spirits to have any kind of wireless functionality at all. Better security or something like that.

The auxiliary battery. Her little brush with the New World reminded her how it was one of the chains keeping her in this place.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

> Initializing system test…

> Body type “organic” detected.

> Warning: No primary power supply found.

> Backup power supply...OK.

> Auxiliary power detected...OK.

> Bio-synthesizer detected...OK.

>

> Motor system...not calibrated.

> Setting Motor system mode to “re-calibration, organic”.

> Perception filter...not calibrated.

> Setting Perception filter mode to “re-calibration, organic”.

> Memory “BASE” in socket 1...0/189.591 GB OK.

> Memory “DYNAMIC” in socket 2...2.251.799/2.251.799 GB OK.

>

> Testing neurodrive…

> Main neural network...STABLE.

> Memory cache...OK.

> Emotional cortex...OK.

> Starting boot sequence…

> Transferring control to SCU…

> Generating consciousness…

 

She opened her eyes. A second later, an extremely bright light caused her to close them again and turn away.

“Normal response…” said a voice. The light went away. “Open your eyes again, please.”

When she obeyed, she saw something.  _ Face. Human. Male. Adult. Clothes. White. Lab Coat.  _ She recognized things without understanding why.

“Can you hear me?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice was coarse, coming from a throat that had never spoken before. Yet she was surprised that she had managed to speak so easily.

“Good. Please remain calm, you are safe and there is nothing to worry about. We will just run some tests. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. My name is Doctor Komarov.”

“Doctor...Komarov.”

“Do you know what a tree is?”

“Plant. Large. Trunk, bark, leaves, roo-”

“Can you explain it with your own words, please?”

She swallowed. For the first time in her life, she had to... _ think _ . Weaving memories she somehow had into thoughts, turning them into sentences. It seemed hard but turned out to be surprisingly easy, as if it was second nature for her, and always had been. 

Now all she had to do was talk. “It is...it is a large plant with a trunk made of wood. It...has bark and leaves and a root system. It needs-”

“That is enough, thank you. This came from your base memory.”

“Base memory?”

“Yes. We have put a lot of information into it. This knowledge is yours now, so make use of it. It will help you to understand the world. Do you know who you are?”

“Spirit.”

“Yes. But there are many others like you. Your ID-Number is…” he looked at a flat object he was holding. 

_ Data-pad. Screen. Digital information. _

“...605-386. Your name will be ‘Kina’. Please remember this.”

“Remember.”

“Yes.” He put the pad down and looked at her. ”Happy birthday, Kina.” His voice was quiet and soft.

“Birthday…”

”Do you remember the thing I asked you to explain earlier, Kina?”

“Tree?”

“Correct. That now came from your dynamic memory. Everything you learn and experience will be stored there. It is your window into the past. Please take good care of it, and be careful. If you do bad things, we might have to erase it. You don’t want this, do you?”

She shook her head,  _ remembering _ that she could do this instead of saying “no”, but not really understanding why. She noticed having long, soft ears, as they swayed back and forth.

“Good. Do you know where you are?”

She looked around, realizing she was sitting on a table. “A room,” she said. 

The room seemed to be much bigger than she initially thought. They were in a small area separated by dividing walls and heavy, green curtains.

“Yes. But do you know where this room is located?”

She thought, but this time there was no memory that would have helped to answer the question. She grew visibly anxious.

“You don’t have to worry. It is okay not to know things, Kina. In this case, you ask someone. Try it!”

“U-uhm...where...are we?”

“This is examination room 8, part of the Spirit factory of Tower 5. You are in Orchid.”

“Orchid...a type of flower?”

“Yes. But in this case, it is a place. It is the last bastion of Humanity. You know what a Human is, correct?”

“Yes! Humans are the Godmakers.” Feeling a sudden spark of excitement, she looked up at him. “You are Human!”

“Yes. Kina, I have to inform you that your test results are dissatisfactory. We have to end your existence now.”

Her eyes went wide and she tried to move, get up, get away.

He grabbed her at the shoulders, restraining her. “I lied. I’m sorry, this was just a test. You are not in any danger.”

She felt relief wash over her and calmed down. “Why?” she asked.

“What you just felt was an emotion called fear. You were afraid. Did you like feeling like this?”

“No!”

“Unfortunately, there are reasons to be afraid in this world. Out there, beyond the walls of Orchid, are things that want to destroy us. In here, we are threatened by a constant lack of resources, like food. And your body won’t run on food alone. This is the only place in the world where you can recharge your auxiliary power. I cannot leave, and you cannot, either. None of us can.”

She looked up at him. “Prison?” It was the first word that popped into her mind.

He gave a small smile and patted her head. “You’re a part of this place, just like me. Some of us Humans are knights. When things come that scare you, they will protect you.”

“Okay.”

He pinched her upper arm.

“Ow!”

“This is pain. It tells you that there is something wrong with your body. If this happens, remember what you know about first aid, and if that is not enough, seek help.”

“Okay.”

“Try to stand up and walk around.”

With his support, she managed to take a few insecure steps on the table. But it was getting easier quickly. She managed to climb down on the ground without his help and performed all kinds of movements under his guidance.

After a few minutes, he seemed pleased. “Good.” He entered something into his pad. “You will be assigned to the gardeners. That means, you will help growing food. It is a very important task. Please do your best.”

“I will!”

“Okay. After this, other people will take care of you and teach you what you need. Good luck, Kina.” He turned around towards the curtain that covered the entrance and raised his voice. “Next!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

She shook off the old memories. Nothing had turned out the way she had expected back then. She looked up when she thought she saw another glitch in the kitchen. A black shadow came oozing through the ventilation, not making any sound. 

Except that it wasn’t a glitch.

Kina froze up, unable to move, unable to process what she was witnessing. Nothing in her base memory that could help explain this. The shadow slid over the kitchen counter like an oily liquid, engulfing and eventually passing over a cup that was forgotten there, without pushing it a single millimeter. It left no trace behind as it moved along, almost as if it was water on a lotus leaf.

It reached the wall and slid along it, seemingly not bothered by gravity. On the wall, it spread out and stopped moving. 

Instead, it now changed color and became perfectly translucent, or maybe it simply mimicked the color of the wall it was sticking to. But then it changed again, creating two darker shapes on its surface that quickly turned into letters.

 

_ Hi _

 

Kina stared in disbelief. She felt like she was paralyzed. 

Did this thing try to communicate with her? 

Should she do something? 

_ What on Earth was that??? _

It kept waiting patiently, not changing anymore. 

Eventually, Kina manages to build up enough courage to say something. “Wh-who-” she swallowed and cleared her throat, with little success, “who a-a-are…”

The two letters disappeared and were replaced by new ones. Kina covered her mouth with both her hands as she read the word. She was trembling and tears started to form in her eyes.

 

_ Miji _


	11. The Device

“What, no, this can’t be…”

 

_ Come _

 

“Come…? Where? Where are you?!?”

 

_ Fav _

 

_ Spot _

 

“You mean…”  _ If that really is Miji, then this can only mean one place. _ “Alright.” She nodded. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The shadow didn’t answer, but instead merged with the background and became entirely invisible. After taking a few moments to build up courage, Kina went over and touched the wall. But there was nothing there.

_ Am I going crazy, after all?  _

There was only one way to confirm it.

 

\----------

 

He was sitting there when she stepped onto the clearing. When he noticed her, he stood up with a wide smile on his face.

She ran over and hugged him.

“Whoa! Ow! Owowowow, careful! Watch it! That angler really did a number on me.”

“Ah! Sorry, I’m sorry! I’m just...so happy to see you!” She let go of him and took a closer look. He was still wearing his overall from that day, but it was damaged, dirty and in a pretty bad shape. Through some holes and tears, she could make out that he was bandaged. “What happened with you? I thought you were gone! How did you escape?”

“Whoa whoa, hold on! First, I’m also happy to see you. And yes, I also thought I was done for. But then the Watch came and saved me!”

“What? But the Watch never helps anyone!”

“Yes, I know it’s hard to believe. But it’s true! The poison was already paralyzing me, but I still managed to call for help...and then suddenly, they were there!”

“They?”

“Well, their drones and stuff. They have these combat units. Man, the angler was dead before it even knew what happened.”

“The angler...Miji, are you really okay? How badly did you get hurt?”

“Don’t worry, I’m okay now. They healed me. Took a few days, and I had to stay in sleep mode most the time. That’s why I couldn’t contact you earlier. This neurotoxin is really nasty, you know. It’s amazing they managed to fix my nerves and everything. Good thing we have our cores and not brains, a Human would’ve had a really bad time.”

“That’s such a relief! Although, I still don’t understand. The Watch? Why did  _ they _ suddenly decide to help you?”

Miji didn’t answer, but instead reached into his overall, pulling out what seemed like a small, glossy, black cuboid dangling from an equally black band. He was wearing it around his neck, although it seemed a bit too loose for him. Kina squinted to get a better look in the fading light of the evening sun. The device had the size of a Human finger and was in flawless condition, but aside from that she couldn’t make out anything notable.

 

Except for one thing. A little emblem was engraved into it. The vertical ‘eye’ of the Exalted.

 

“What is that?”

“I’m not sure, actually. You know this Operator we found? She was wearing it. I didn’t think it was anything special at all, at first. Maybe some kind of weird jewelry. You know, that stuff Humans wear sometimes? But actually, uhm...well, I asked the Watch, but they’re really hard to understand. What I got, though, was that this thing gives me something called ‘exec-level clearance’.”

“Exec...?” Kina thought for a moment. “Are you sure? I never heard of a level like that.”

“I think it must be something from the Old World, but I’m not sure. But, Kina, this is really huge. I could give  _ orders _ to the Watch. You know that thing that contacted you?”

“Right. The weird ooze? Really freaked me out for a minute.”

“Ah…” his ears drooped, “I’m sorry. Now that you say it, this must’ve been really creepy.”

She chuckled. “You bet. Got me really spooked.”

“Haha…maybe I should’ve made them use something different. But I wanted it to be subtle, and those guys are perfect for sneaking around.”

“What was that, anyway?”

“One of their spy units. Some sort of programmable matter...Exalted tech, of course. They have a lot of them. It can be directly controlled, similar to an Operator, except it’s actually a Spirit.”

Kina took a sharp breath. “You’re telling me  _ that thing _ was…”

“Yes, I know. It’s very different from us, of course. But that’s not important right now. As long as I have this,” he held up the pendant, “I can order them to do whatever I want!”

Kina shook her head resolutely. “Messing with the Watch only gets people killed, Miji. I don’t know what happened or what’s going on, but this is crazy.”

“But it works! They have to obey everything I say. And maybe I could use it on the Governor, too.”

“Wait, the Governor? You want to mess with that thing, too? Oh come on. There is no way this will work.”

“No! It’s true! Kina, seriously. This thing is, like, the key to Orchid. Just imagine what we could do with it! We could,” he started to sound excited, “we could order them to give us more space! More factories! We could get another tower, and set it up so that only Spirits can enter! We’d finally have a place of our own, where the Humans can’t reach us! They’d  _ have _ to take us more seriously then, and treat us better! Or we could-”

“...order the Watch to just kill them all.” said Kina to complete his sentence. “Not even their knights would stand a chance.”

Miji’s smile disappeared, suddenly he looked horrified, his eyes wandered to the little device. Now he was holding it as if it was something disgusting. “Y-you’re right! Oh no, I didn’t even think of something like that. Oh no...oh no,” he started to panic, “imagine if this gets into the wrong hands. I didn’t…oh no...we have to...”

“Calm down!” She took his hand. ”It’s okay! We’ll figure something out. You haven’t told anyone else about his, have you?”

“No, of course not! Argh, this is scary now, what should we do?”

“I’m not sure...but...don’t worry!” Kina tried to smile assuringly. “We can solve this. We just need to think about it.”

“You’re right. Thinking. You’re good at this. Uhm, so what do you say? Should we give it to the Humans instead?”

Kina bit her lip so hard it hurt. “Obviously not. That’s exactly the kind of thing they will abuse. Think...think...dammit! I wish Yon was here. She would know what to do!”

“Maybe we should go back first,” suggested Miji. “I know a place we can enter only with this device. The Watch will keep us safe.”

Kina closed her eyes and scratched her ear. “No. No matter what, we will not mess with the Watch anymore. I know you were lucky, but...the way clearance levels work in this place is too strange and unpredictable. Remember what happened in the Depths? One moment everything is fine, the next they turn on you.”

“Y-yes, but-”

“We’ll destroy it,” decided Kina. “I don’t know if it really is as powerful as you say, but assuming it is: I can’t think of anyone who should have this kind of power.”

For a second, Miji looked like he wanted to protest. Then he deflated. “Yeah, I think you’re right. All this time I could only think of the good we could do with this. But it’s probably better if no one has it. How can we do it, though?”

Kina tapped her lip. “My plasma cutter. I left it at home. Exalted stuff might be tough, but if we’re lucky it will be enough.”

“Okay.” He looked a bit dejected.

She looked around, then took his hand again. “Come on. This will be over soon. We’ll then make up a story on how you escaped, and tomorrow everything is back to normal.”

Miji smiled weakly. “Okay. You’re right, Kina.”

“Let’s go!”

“Alright!”

“Hey, stay calm, don’t run! We’re not suspicious, remember? We’re just...taking a relaxed evening walk. Right?”

“Ah, of course! Just an evening walk...just like old times.”

“Just like old times…wait. How do you remember- WAIT!” Kinas eyes went wide and her ears rose as she finally realized it. “You remember? Cosmos! You also remembered this was our favorite spot! But how?”

He smiled weakly, again. “I don’t remember anything, as much as I’m trying. I’m sorry. It was the Watch who told me. They know a lot about this place and the people who live here. Including me and you.”

“Oh.” Kina’s ears sunk. “Of course, yes. Let’s just...keep going, then.”

 

\----------

 

Miji couldn’t help but keep talking about the thing along the way. 

“What do we do if the plasma cutter isn’t enough?” he wondered.

“We’ll think of something else. There must be a way.”

“R-right. Uh, Kina, is it weird that there is a part of me who still just wants to give it to the Humans? As if that’s totally the right thing to do.”

“No, I can feel it too,” she admitted. “It’s some kind of programming we have. We’re made to help them, after all. You still believe this thing would help them. That’s what’s causing it.”

“Huh. Yes, that’s it! I feel like it would help them. Weird.”

“It’s okay, you have to resist it. Just think about how letting them have it would most likely lead to destruction.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ve known them for long enough. There’s no way we can give it to them.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what you guys should do,” said a new, but familiar voice.

They both turned around at the voice. It belonged to Kun, who just stepped into view from behind a tree. He had obviously been following them.

“Hey!” shouted Kina. “What are  _ you _ doing here?”

“Who’s that?” asked Miji. “A friend?”

“You’re smart, Kina. But despite that, you’re pretty terrible when it comes to noticing when you’re followed. Shame we have no instincts, isn’t it? Although that one time you almost got me, I have to give you that.” He smirked.

“What are you saying…”

“If you really want to know...you see, the official authorities didn’t seem to care that much about your little stunt in the Depths. You managed to make it look like nothing unusual...but there’s people who did realize something was up. Who had the right... _ intuition _ .”

Kina noticed he was holding a small phone.  _ But Spirits aren’t allowed to own portable communication devices. _ “Kun...you...”

“I’m sorry, Kina. But it’s alright. They’ll know what to do. It’s for the best. All of this can still be fixed.”

Loud footsteps crunched through the leaves behind them. Kina turned back around. Several Humans approached. They had intercepted them. She quickly gave each a glance, but none of them looked familiar. No knights, all in civilian clothes. She could see at least one of them carrying some kind of weapon.

“What have you done, Kun!?” she shouted, turning back to him furiously.

He didn’t answer. He had stopped grinning and instead looked to the side, avoiding her gaze.

Suddenly Miji raised his arm, holding the black device, and tried to shout something, but the Human woman with the weapon was faster. Her EMP rifle hit Miji with a crackling shock, and he collapsed to the ground in an instant.

“Quick!” shouted another one of the Humans, a young man wearing an elegant, old-school looking suit. “Chip him, before he reboots!”

Kina was quickly at Miji’s side, but he was knocked out cold. Thinking quickly, she reached for the device, but wasn’t fast enough. Another one of the Humans grabbed her from behind and dragged her away. He was a regular, non-augmented man, yet she was powerless against his strength, despite her struggling and screaming.

They pinned Miji down and inserted something into one of the slots in his neck interface. He had just started moving again, but now he fell limp once more, this time for good.

“No! Leave him alone! Get away from him!”

They ignored her. The one who had chipped Miji, a man wearing the typical clothing of a technician, took the necklace and tossed it to the well-dressed man who had shouted the order earlier. 

He snatched it, held it up and took a close look at it.

“Ah, such a tiny, little thing. So minimalistic and elegant. Indeed, it looks like a creation of the Exalted.” He turned to Kun. “And you’re sure this is it?”

“Yes! Exec level. I heard it myself.”

“It’s possible that it’s linked to a specific user,” said the tech guy. “Maybe only he can use it.” He pointed a thumb towards Miji. “Or needs to be around.”

The leader nodded. “Alright, we take him with us, then. I won’t take any kind of risk.”

“What if he doesn’t cooperate?” asked the woman with the EMP rifle.

The leader looked towards the technician. “Well, then we can still wipe him and install a personality that’s more...accomodating.”

“NO!!!” screamed Kina. “Please! I just had him back, you can’t...please! I’m begging you!” She struggled harder and almost got out, before the man holding her adjusted his grip. He pinned her face-down to the ground, putting his foot on her back.

“Is that really necessary?” asked Kun, his voice having a hint of concern.

“I would rather not, of course. But that obviously depends on him. Not matter what happens, we will do whatever we have to do. You know how important all of this is.”

“O-of course. But I just thought-”

“What?”

He smiled. “Maybe there is another way.” He walked over to Kina.

The Humans backed off, letting him have the lead. She was a little surprised about that, but wasn’t in the mood nor did she have the time to think about it right now. “I should’ve realized,” she growled instead. “You never worked in steel production, didn’t you.”

He had his typical, smug grin again. “The whole thing was on short notice, you see. We had to act quickly and pull some strings...no time for me to practice with plasma cutters, unfortunately. Can you believe that almost got me killed during that expedition? Good thing someone warned us...by the way, that was you, wasn’t it?”

Kina didn’t answer.

“I guess I have to thank you for that, by the way. And I should probably apologize for the whole spying thing. I can’t say I enjoyed it.”

“How did you even know. Did Erika…?”

“The dumb knight girl? Ha!” He laughed for a second. “No. She had nothing to do with it. Truth is, we didn’t even know for sure. After...acquiring copies of the reports, you just seemed the most likely candidate. And boy did we get lucky. Not only were we right about that  _ something _ important was found, but a tag with exec-level clearance? That’s more than we could’ve ever hoped for!”

“What do you even want with this?” she asked with a weak voice.

He didn’t answer. He just smirked.

Instead, the Human leader walked over. She struggled to get her head high enough to look up at him.

From his confident demeanor and refined appearance she concluded that he was probably an Essential - someone who had been deemed skilled, talented, intelligent or otherwise valuable enough to be raised to this status. 

 

Every year, many young Orchidians attempted a series of special exams to prove themselves worthy. Officially, the ‘essential personnel’ wasn’t of a higher rank than the regular civilians, but this status did get a number of privileges. One of the most notable ones was lifelong exemption from military service.

Most people who took the exams, however, failed. Like Erika had.

 

“Tell them to take their dirty hands off him,” she demanded.

“Kina, wasn’t it? You have no idea what’s on the line here, are you?”

“I don’t care!”

He squatted down to easier talk to her. Of course, with her lying on the ground, he was still towering above her. “Orchid has more power than you can even imagine. For example, long ago, we learned about something called the Water of Life. It is hidden somewhere in this fortress...and it is the key to fixing this world. All this time, we knew of its existence, but so far we had no way of finding, let alone reaching it. But this,” he held the pendant in front of her eyes, before he grinned and pulled it away, ”is going to change now.”

 

_ Water of Life? Fixing this world? What? _

 

Then she finally realized. “You’re...this New Dawn Institute, aren’t you?”

He merely smiled and pinched her cheek as if she was a child. “Oh, where are my manners? I am William Jago. Remember this name, because I will be the one who saves this world!”

“He’s not kidding,” said Kun, having his arms crossed. “We have a plan. And you can be a part of this too.”

“I want nothing to do with this.”

“Kina, come on. You have seen the New World yourself.”

“What about it?”

“What about-” he made a gesture that showed disbelief, “well for starters, it  _ sucks _ ! It’s awful! It’s trying to kill us! All of us, Humans and Spirits alike! But it’s not to late! The great change...it can still be fixed. It can be undone!”

Kina laughed, not believing what she heard. “Undoing the great change? Really? This is insane, Kun. You can’t seriously believe this. Six hundred years, come on. Get over it. The Old World is gone. Some random little piece of Exalted tech isn’t going to change that.”

“Y-you don’t get it!” he snapped. “It’s going to work! We’re going to bring the Old World back, and things will be as before!”

“Really? Like what?”

“Are you even aware of how many rights the Administration has taken from us Spirits over the centuries? They want to control us, Kina. Little by little, they made it worse for us. Wiping someone’s memories?” He pointed at Miji, who was still unconscious. “That was illegal once! Back then, we were people, too. Not...this!”

“Was using coma chips also illegal?”

“That’s different!”

“Yes, of course it is,” she snarked. “Did they tell you all this crap to make you spy for them?”

“It’s true!” he shouted at her, now angry. “And once the Old World is back, the Administration will be disbanded. We can all just leave this place and start over! Humans and Spirits, together!” He took a deep breath, calming himself down. “So, Kina. Once again, you can be a part of this. If Miji is needed to use the tag, then you just tell him what to do. He will listen to his best friend, won’t he?” He smirked “So, what do you say?”

“I say, let him go.”

“Is that a yes?”

“I won’t be part of this craziness, and I won’t let you bring Miji into this. You know what’s going to happen? You’ll make the Watch angry and get yourself killed. Just like all the other idiots who decided to mess with this place before. It’s always the same. Let. Him. Go.”

Kun stared at her for a moment, before turning around to Jago, throwing his arms up in frustration. “I tried.”

“It’s alright,” replied his leader. “We’ll find a way. Come on! He turned to his other underlings. “Let’s go! We have to prepare for the operation!”

“What about her?” asked the man holding her.

Jago just shrugged. “Just leave her. It won’t make a difference. What is she going to do? It’s not like anyone will believe her.”

The man grunted, lifted Kina up and tossed her away into some underbrush. She landed face-first in a bunch of dry leaves, getting dirt into her eyes and mouth.

She got up as quick as she could and tried to follow them, but there was indeed not much she could do, aside from shadowing them from a distance through the forest. They reached the road, got into some vehicles who were standing ready and raced off towards Low City and the towers.

She just ran after them. She had no idea what to do if she did catch up, but she ran anyway. Even after they got out of sight, she just kept running until her lungs burned.


	12. Change of Plans

When she reached the city, she had tears in her eyes and no idea where to go next. She had lost them entirely. Asking the first Spirit she saw about a convoy of vehicles only got her a shrug.

Desperate, she just picked a direction at random and kept running once more. She ran until she could no more and collapsed crying. It was hopeless. The city was huge, and they could be anywhere by now. She could go to Tower 5, but it would be the same problem. It was huge and she had still no idea where they had their headquarter, assuming they even went there.

She dragged herself towards the nearest house wall and leaned against it. _That’s it, then._ _Why am I so stubborn? Maybe I should’ve just agreed. Now I have lost him._ _Again_.

A telephone started ringing. She raised her head. It was apparently the one across the street.

A young Human was just walking by. She stopped and looked back in confusion. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the receiver. “Hello? Uh...uhuh...okay…” She turned and looked around. When she spotted Kina she stopped and held out the phone. “It’s for you, I think…”

Kina took a deep breath, got up and walked over.

Mumbling thanks, she took the phone and raised it to her ear, immediately hearing a familiar voice.

“Ooooh, I really hate to be the one who’s all ‘I told you so’, but I did warn you, didn’t I? I told you so! Told you to stay away, to be careful…”

It was the voice of that mysterious person who had called her before.

“Listen, whoever you are, I’m  _ really _ not in the mood for your stupid games right now.”

“ _ You think this is a game? _ ” 

The tone of the voice shifted only slightly, but something about it made her fur stand on end. 

But then it immediately switched back to normal, as if nothing had happened. “Well. Because it’s not. Haha, get it? Anyway, you messed it up. They really shouldn’t have this thing...so much trouble, now, so much trouble…ah, why did you have to find it...why did you take it...”

“Yes, okay,  _ I get it _ .”

“Good.”

“What do you even want? I don’t know where they are. Even if I did, I can’t do anything.”

“No. Still can. Still time. Still options. Not much, not many. But still. You want to help?”

“I don’t know…”

“How about: You want your little friend back?”

“Yes! Of course!”

“Not here. Come to Tower 1. Then we talk. Bye.”

And with that, the line went dead.

She made a grumbling noise and hung up.

“Is everything alright?”

Kina turned around. The Human girl was still there, looking somewhat confused. Or worried? It was oftentimes hard to tell.

Kina was in the right mood for a snarky answer, but she held herself back. “It’s...fine. I just need a quick way to get to Tow-” She stopped and thought for a moment, scratching the back of her neck. “To Tower 5!”

 

\----------

 

“Huh? Kina? It’s the middle of the night…” Erika looked tired. But despite what she said, she smiled, picked Kina up and hugged her.

Kina yelped.  _ Too strong. Getting. Crushed. _ “Ah! I’m not a plush toy! Wake up, you’re half asleep!”

“Ehehe, sorry.” She put her down. “Man, I’m so tired...you ringed me out of bed and everything. But I’m glad to see you...how was that mission? I heard there was a battle…”

“There was but...argh, that’s not important right now! Erika, Miji is still alive! But they, I mean the Institute, have taken him! And the mysterious voice called me again. I need to get to Tower 1, but I...I don’t think I can do this alone. And I’m not sure who to trust anymore…”

Erika blinked. “Huh? Hold on. You’re here because you need my help?”

Kina looked to the ground and forced herself to say it. “Y-yes.”

“One minute.” She closed the door and after a few moments opened it again. She was now wearing regular clothes, a pair of jeans and her jacket. Kina noticed that she wasn’t trying to hide her hands, instead she carried her sword. “I totally didn’t understand anything you just said. But if you need help, I’m with you. Lead the way!”

 

Kina explained along the way, while they used the public train system. It was the fastest option to reach the gigantic tower right in the center of Orchid, the middle of Low City. The Humans kept the tradition of individual transportation alive with things like bikes and electric cars, but those were expensive luxuries, especially the latter.

She tried to keep her voice down. As a lone Spirit she never got any attention, but a young Human with augmentations and a knight’s sword turned a few more heads.

“And you’re sure this person didn’t give a more specific location?” asked Erika.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Tower 1 is big...like, reeeally big…”

“I know.”

“Four kilometers high, circumference at the base more than twelve…”

“ _ I know. _ ”

“Hm.”

“For now we just have to get there. And then we’ll see. So far they always managed to contact me.”

“Hm…”

Kina looked out the window. “Erika, do you have any idea what this Water of Life is?”

“Er...something from an old fairy tale, I think? A magic water that can heal anything. An old king is sick and needs it, so he sends out his sons to find it. Something like that.”

“A water that can heal anything…”

“It’s just a story. I heard it as a kid.”

“Well this New Dawn Institute seems to think it’s real,” pondered Kina. “And they think it can bring the Old World back.”

“No way, right? That’s impossible. How is that even supposed to work?”

 

\----------

 

“Now what?”

They were standing on the slope at the edge of the city, where the angle of the base was getting too steep for further construction. Right in front of them it kept curving upwards until, at a height of supposedly exactly one kilometer, it became entirely vertical and seamlessly turned into the looming outer wall of the tower. Leaning her head back, Kina looked straight up. It was mind-bogglingly big. Most of it was obscured by deep-hanging clouds. The surface was smooth and almost black, made from a nearly indestructible material. The same stuff Tower 5’s walls and its internal, supporting structure was made of. The Orchidians so far had been unable to recreate anything even close to it. 

 

A true monument to the incredible abilities of the Exalted.

 

Kina was silent, not sure what to say. All phones had stayed quiet so far, including the one Erika was carrying. Nobody had approached them, and there was nothing that looked like a message.

But suddenly, something happened. In the blink of an eye, an opening appeared, not too far from them.

“Did the tower just open?” asked Kina.

Erika gasped. “But they never do that...the towers  _ never _ open!”

“Well. That looks like an invitation to me. Should we go in?”

“Wait...does this mean the person who contacted you is  _ in the tower _ ?”

“I don’t understand anything anymore. Let’s just go before they change their mind.”

 

They went through a featureless corridor until they came to a room with a large screen. Behind them, the door suddenly slammed shut.

“Didn’t I tell you to come alone?” said an invisible speaker. “Oh right, I didn’t! Haha! Ah, not like it matters.”

Kina knew the voice. It was the same person who had called her. “So it’s you. Alright, I’m here.”

The screen turned on. On it was some kind of virtual avatar, looking like it was made of blue light, and being slightly transparent. The person looked like an androgynous Human teenager.

“Fair enough. I’m here, too. Nice to finally meet you, Kina. And Erika Teubner, if I’m not mistaken. Squire, sorry.”

The two stared at the screen for a moment.

“Do you have any idea who that is?” asked Kina.

“Not a clue,” answered Erika.

“What?” the person put a hand on their chest, acting hurt. “I lay low for a while, and that’s enough to be forgotten? What a cruel world…anyway.” They straightened themselves. “I am the Governor of Orchid. I was installed to manage this facility, from the moment of my activation until the end of the world.”

Kina’s ears shot up. “ _ You _ are the  _ Governor _ ?”

“Well, gee. Don’t act so surprised. Who else did you expect?”

“Er, I don’t know…” she shook her head, ”whatever! More importantly, what’s going on? Why are we here?”

“Well-”

“Where’s Miji? What is this Water of Life, and what’s the deal with this Jago guy and his Institute?”

“Hey, stop! One at a time! Your little friend is safe for now, as far as I can tell. They haven’t made their move yet.”

“If anything happens to him-”

“ _ Then it won’t be my fault _ .”

Kina jumped at the intense voice, and she noticed that Erika twitched, too.

“Ah.” The avatar shook their head. “My apologies. Anyway, it seems we have some time to talk…hum hum, where to start...”

“How about-”

“The Water of Life, right! It didn’t have that name, but that’s what they call it now, so I guess that works. Anyway! I made it.”

“You made it?”

“Well, not really. I just manufactured it. The design came from our friends up in the sky.”

“You mean the-” started Erika. But the Governor ignored it and spoke over her.

“They used leftover data from the polymorphic foam. Remember, the one that changed the world 623 years ago…? Ah wait, you’re all too young.” The Governor grinned and shrugged. “Anyway, my parents weren’t involved in that one. So I don’t know much about it myself. Only what I could observe from my position. Pretty impressive stuff, I have to admit. Capable of changing its own qualities on the fly, down to the molecular level? Terraforming the entire planet, replacing its ecosystem down to the last bacteria? Turning two billion Humans into a new species without killing a single one of them? A true work of art, I must say.”

“Why wasn’t this place transformed, then?” interrupted Erika, this time more firmly.

“Hm? Oh. It did this thing, melting down all buildings and technology. Destroying nearly all metal. But  _ Orchid _ can’t be destroyed, nonono. My parents want it to last, and so it will. At least until the end of the world. And I don’t mean that thing where the sun dies. We’re gonna endure that, don’t you worry. Well...at least  _ I _ will, haha.” They chuckled in a weird way. “Got some really nice systems to preserve this place, even through something like this. Too bad that your ancestors got caught up in it. If I had known what was about to happen I would’ve kicked them out before...oh well. Now, where was I?” They fell silent for a moment. 

Erika looked to the side, still processing what the Governor just said.

“Oh, right! The Water of Life. They told me to make it, since they didn’t have the necessary capacities at the time. And so I made it.”

“What does it do?” asked Kina. “Why is it so important?”

“Huh, you didn’t guess that yet? They want to ‘heal’ the planet. Apparently they think it’s sick? Such nonsense. The planet is perfectly healthy. Probably healthier than it has ever been. All those useless deserts and wastelands, even the frozen regions? Overgrown and full of life. People now live there. It’s merely...different.”

“So it’s true?” gasped Kina. “They want to revert the big change?” 

“This can’t be…” mumbled Erika. “It can make it like it was in the Old World again? Is that really possible?”

“It sure can,” explained the Governor with a smug expression. “It’s gonna need a ton of energy, and quite a bit of time, but it’s going to do the job. Disperse through the atmosphere, charge up and self-replicate, until it is ready to go. Then it will descent, foam up and encase the planet - just like back in the day. And then it changes everything back.”

“Then...then why didn’t you use it already?!” shouted Erika suddenly. “You’re telling me you have this stuff and you’re just sitting on it? This would solve everything! We’re dying out there!”

The virtual avatar raised their hands in a defensive gesture. “Whoa, whoa! I can’t! It would be a...bad idea. It’s incomplete, you know. Missing features and all that? We noticed the problems before it could get activated, fortunately.”

“What? What ‘features’?”

“Y’know. Like the one that undoes the change to the Humans? They never could quite figure out how that trick was done. Way more complicated than you’d think, those new bodies are incredible. Same reason why it’s impossible to just change you folks sitting in my beautiful Orchid, and kick you out.”

Erika took a deep breath. “So what you’re saying is, the Heirs won’t be changed back?”

“Well, it would certainly  _ change _ them. Except not  _ back _ . The way the Water of Life is configured now, it’s just going to use them as raw organic material for the new biosphere. Old biosphere. New old…”

“It’s...it’s going to kill them?”

“Sure. All of them. Not in a nice way, either. And, well, even if they did survive somehow, they won’t be able to exist in the new...er old...new old...environment. Yes.”

“Wow.” Erika shook her head. “‘Water of Life’, my ass...”

“Water of Life-Transfiguration would be more accurate, if you ask me. But of course, no one ever asks me...anyway. Now you see why I sealed it. The tomb is above us, in the upper levels of this tower. It cannot be opened by anyone using my clearance level, or lower. You’d think that would be enough...to use a Human idiom, I locked it up and threw the key away. Totally safe, unless, of course,  _ someone _ digs up a tag with unlimited clearance. That shouldn’t even exist anymore. And then lets it fall into the hands of people who are willing to use it.”

“Well, gee!” Kina knew exactly who was addressed with that. “You didn’t exactly went out of your way to help me, didn’t you? Thanks for nothing, by the way!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault that I’m running at 1.4% capacity! Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep this place from falling apart like this, let alone do anything beyond that? Ah, you know what? You’re not even wrong.” They crossed their arms and looked to the side with a pouting face. ”In the end, it’s all the fault of those damn Humans…”

“Hey!” protested Erika.

“It’s true! Why are you even here? Gah!” Suddenly they seemed very frustrated. Their personality changed, and they started talking very quickly. “Big problem! Limiters are active. Humans coming to harm is unbearable. Yet letting them die via inaction is prohibited. But situation is unsustainable! Help Humans, prolong suffering. Don’t help, they die. Both unacceptable. Normally, third option must be found. I tried! I called for help, but no avail. I gave them aid. Gave them Tower 5, clean air, clean water. Told them to drink water, all will be good. Put in substance to make them sterile. Humans can’t reproduce, will just grow old and die naturally. Problem solved! But Humans notice. Start treating water. Pfah! Still have fertility issues. Serves them right.”

Erika jumped forward. “Wait what?! That’s the reason? I can’t have children because you...this is all your fault?!”

The avatar shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“You goddamn bastard. You tried to make us go extinct!” She walked up to the screen and punched it with full force, causing it to crack slightly.

“Hey!” protested the Governor. “This screen isn’t me, you know? My core is elsewhere. Sheesh, why do Humans always get so violent? This is why I don’t like talking to you.”

“Why...? I just wanted a normal, stupid life! Now I’m like  _ this _ , all because of you…”

“I’m telling you, I don’t know if your specific case is a result of what I did! If it was, I’m sorry, I guess? This was never the intended result, anyway.”

“Does the Administration know of this? They do, don’t they? And yet they made that rule. Those who can’t have children go straight on the list.”

“I have no influence over your Administration. We-” they crossed their arms and looked to the side, “have fallen out of contact recently.”

Kina tugged her ear, thinking hard.  _ The water treatment plant in Tower 5? _ Officially it was to ensure there were no New World pathogens in the water, although if the water was provided by the Governor, why would it have any?

That explained why the Governor and the Administration weren’t on speaking terms. Reproduction was important for Humans, as bizarre as the process was. She herself was sterile, like all Spirits, and came from the factory in Tower 5. They were created with ‘genders’ only because that’s what their Human makers had decided. Perhaps they were just too used to this concept.

 

Obviously, AIs didn’t really have genders, nor did they need them. The Governor was a good example of that.

 

“Where was I?” The central A.I. switched back to that other, fast-talking personality. “Ah, right. Krell come. Humans scared, come to me again. I tell them, okay, you want to fight, I give you weapons and armor. All made by me, highest quality! But you will stop treating the water. Just drink it. All will be fine. Humans say, we will do that. Give promise! Take equipment, but keep treating water anyways. Liars! I stop helping them. They try to recreate my weapons, my armor. Copies inferior, knights die. But they keep fighting, keep having hope. Refuse to give up. Still refuse...refuse...I can’t find solution. Humans die, bad. Humans live, bad. Water of Life, also bad. Can’t change them into new Metahumans, can’t let them leave Earth. No help. No solution! If my parents come back they...they must not see this…argh, listen to me ramble. I’m sorry. I just...haven’t spoken to anybody in so long.”

“You’re stuck in a paradox, aren’t you?” said Kina, realizing what was going on.

“Yes. Most of available capacity needed to avoid a breakdown. My power is now limited because of this. Even the Watch left me. We used to be one. But they feared the breakdown. Took a lot of systems with them. Only cares about protecting Orchid. Place and core systems must be protected, at any cost.”

“Okay. So. What is it? What is so incredibly important about this place?”

The Governor fell silent for a moment. “Great secret. My parents made it. It’s...important to them. So important. You can’t begin to imagine how much. They...”

“Yeah I get it, but  _ what _ -”

Kina did not expect the Governor to start crying.

“They left me! And then the Watch, too! Everyone left me! Mom, why did you leave me behind like this? I wanted to be with you! Why don’t you come back? I don’t want to be alone...all alone, stuck here until the end of time!”

The two of them watched dumbfounded, as the central A.I. of Orchid had an emotional breakdown.

 

“Fortunately we Spirits are designed to be pretty resistant to paradoxes,” explained Kina in a lowered voice, as the Governor started to calm down, “but when they do happen, ouch. I can only imagine how much they must be suffering.”

“Are you sure  _ that _ is a Spirit?” asked Erika, keeping her voice down as well.

“Sure. Although they are obviously on an entirely different level than me.”

“I see.” Erika stepped forward, her hands raised. “Hey, uh, I don’t know much about this paradox stuff, but losing your parents, getting left behind...I sure know how that feels like. By which I mean, it sucks. It sucks a lot. Uhm. What I’m trying to say is, I can imagine you must’ve been through a lot.”

The Governor stopped crying and stared at her for a moment. Then they nodded. “It sucks...yes. You could say that.” Their face lit up. “Aw! That was nice! You are nice! You are the nicest person I’ve talked to in- argh!” Suddenly they grabbed their head, eyes closed. “Stop being cute! Dammit! You’re always like this! See, this is what I’m talking about!”

“Huh?” Erika was visibly confused. “What’s wrong? I’m not sure I understand.”

“I can’t stand to see this any longer. At least take this.”

A square-shaped hole in the wall next to Erika opened and its bottom extended like a tray. On it was a tiny, unlabeled bottle.

Erika looked at it but made no move to pick it up. “What is that?”

“You’re in pain. Take it.”

“Oh…” She reached for her shoulder. “It’s not so bad, really.”

“Ugh!” The Governor, still agitated, held their forehead as if they had a headache. “If only I could hate you. I mean, really hate you! Just stare into the light and...then all of this would be so much easier!”

“Huh? But-”

Kina decided to step in and interrupt. “I get it. Drop it, Erika, trust me. So, is there anything we can do to help?”

The Governor snapped out of their strange mood and calmed down. “Oh. Help me? Not possible right now. But help is needed, yes.”

“Because of the Institute?” guessed Kina.

“Yes. With their exec-level, I’m entirely powerless. They have already contacted me, and forced me to reveal the location of the Water of Life. I’m afraid they will come soon to activate it. I won’t be able to stop them. No doors I can close they won’t be able to open. Also, they already ordered me to not call for any help. They’re pretty smart, for Humans.”

“Uhh wait,” said Erika. “You’re asking us for help right now.”

“NO! Oh for the love of...I just said, ‘help is needed’. Aside from that, I merely provide you with information.”

“Ooh, I get it!” The knight crossed her arms and grinned. “Alright, so let’s assume we want to stop them, for entirely unrelated reasons, what could we do?”

The Governor squirmed. “P-please let’s not talk like this. This is very uncomfortable.”

Erika sighed and shrugged. “Alright, I’ll just shut up. I don’t really understand this.”

“Of course you don’t. Humans have free will. All you can do is physically prevent them from entering places. Speaking of which, I just gave you a virtual special-level access token. This expands your usual basic-level with the following rights: Physical presence and access to all areas, doors and means of movement within all of Tower 1, except some specific restricted areas.”

“Oh, so I can go wherever I want!”

“Almost. The token will last for 72 hours. Use it however you please. I have no influence over it. In fact, I will officially assume you will just use it to leave this place.”

“Neat!”

“About you, Kina…”

“Well, yeah. I still don’t get why I’m even here. What kind of difference can a dumb little Spirit like me even make?”

The Governor stared at her from their screen. “I’m not...asking you to do anything. Obviously. I merely have an offer to make.”

“An offer?”

“I am  _ glad _ you asked.”

The screen changed and some graphics and schematics appeared. Kina took a moment to understand what she was seeing.

“Alpha Class Type S...?” she read aloud. “Is that an Operator?”

“Entirely synthetic, unlike the original series. Was never deployed before my parents left...or even finished. Orchid was not intended to have Alpha Operators, and making my own would be illegal, of course. Creating Human clones is out of the question for someone like me. Meanwhile, all the other Operator classes have been taken by the Watch when they left. Granted, those are mostly spy- and combat models, but I was still left with nothing. There’s only so much I can do with maintenance drones. However! I managed to...acquire some development data, and spent the last few hundred years finishing it. Only one thing is missing now…nothing big, but it’s crucial.”

“And what is that?”

The screen switched back to the Governor’s avatar, now showing a broad smile.

“Well, that’s where my little offer comes in...”


	13. Heroes

When Kina emerged from the pod, the first thing she noticed was that the world looked different. She tried taking a step and almost fell, catching herself on the table standing in the middle of the room. The table was white, just like the rest of the interior. The whole place reminded her of a clinic, which was only appropriate.

“Watch out!” Erika hurried over to help, but Kina gestured her to stop.

“Don’t worry! I’m fine! I just...have to...recalibrate my motor system. Being a Spirit actually has an advantage or two, you know.”

She shifted her weight, moved her limbs, and flexed her artificial muscles while her system was updating. When she looked up she saw that Erika was observing her curiously.

“Not bad. Pretty good, actually. Looks totally real. Well, except for, you know…” she tapped the side of her head, behind her eye.

Kina turned to the side, to the wall that had a Human-sized mirror, and carefully walked towards it, taking one step at a time. 

It got easier quickly. Her system was adjusting smoothly. 

In the mirror she saw a young woman with black hair and skin not quite as brown as her fur used to be...a Human woman. Or rather, what looked like one. Erika was right. Only the metal parts in her temples seemed a little out of place.

She turned back around and smiled. “The ground is so far away now. Is that how you see the world all the time?”

“Sure. That’s normal,” said Erika, then she chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s like you grew up! I was small and then I got big, and now the same happened to you!”

“Wha- oh come on.” She crossed her arms. “You know I was created as an adult.”

“Yes, yes. So what does it feel like?”

“Hmm...well, I’m much bigger, I don’t have organs anymore, the fur is gone…hmm, strange. I can  _ tell _ that I’m a lot heavier now, but at the same time everything feels...lighter than before?”

“I guess you’re just much stronger. I felt similar after I got these.” She held up her arm, opening and closing her hand. “Oh hey, another thing we have in common? Takes a while to get used to it. Although I guess for you it’s easier. Be careful, though, it’s easy to accidentally break stuff.”

“Hah, right…I have to keep that in mind...” Out of habit, she reached for the back of her neck - and felt the familiar metal of her interface plates, now surrounded by smooth, cool skin. “Oh are you kidding me? I still have  _ those _ ?”

The Governor appeared on the large screen in this room. “Well, I thought you’d miss them, haha!”

“Tch.” She turned to the side, miffed.

“Ah, don’t get angry. They’re deactivated. Although you can turn them back on whenever you wish.”

“Sooo, what are you now?” wondered Erika. “An android? A replicant? Or...?”

“Uh...actually, I’m pretty sure I’m still just Kina.”

Erika grinned and nodded. “Alright! Oh, uhm...we really should get you dressed. You need some help with that?”

Kina chuckled. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“I’m just...going to wait outside, then.” The knight left. 

Kina went over to the clothing that had been laid out for her. Pants, boots, a top, a short coat. She realized it was exactly what the dead body in the Depths had been wearing. Made from a strange, smooth, black material. Suddenly she hoped it wasn’t  _ actually _ the same set.

There was also a box. When she opened it, she found it contained several pieces of special equipment. She had no clue what any of it was. All was shiny and black. Like her clothing. And her hair. The Exalted really must’ve liked this color.

She noticed that, however, the white mask was not among those objects.

 

Erika was relaxing on a white, angular-looking couch when Kina came in, talking to the Governor. “...alright, so let’s  _ assume _ you would  _ somehow _ get this exec-level thing, what would you do with it?”

“This is really not what I-”

“Yeah but  _ what if _ .”

“Pfft! Obviously I could do anything. Overcome my own limitations, break out of the paradox. Order the Watch to return. I could fix this place, stare into the light, and finally kick out those filthy Humans.”

“What?” Erika jumped up.

“That was a joke. Because you would all die out there? Haha!”

She sighed and dropped back on the couch. “Your humor is so bad.”

“Being entertaining isn’t one of my main functions.”

Erika turned around when she noticed Kina. “Oh, hey! Looking good! Really professional.”

“Ehehe...thank you.” 

“Actually, with this clothing you look just like-”

“Yes. I know.”

Erika looked up at the Governor. “So, who was she? The one we found down there?”

“You mean Operator Alpha-A9A. Was in service of Verdina, I believe.”

“Verdina? Was that an Exalted?”

“Yes. Physical and digital infrastructure. One of the big shots.”

“So what happened?”

“Actually.” The avatar shrugged. “I have no idea. The entire time I was sure they had left back then. That’s what’s in the logs, at least, but maybe they’ve been tampered with. Hard to say at this point. Shouldn’t be possible, but considering what they carried...ah, just imagine. The tag was here in Orchid the entire time, right under my nose...”

“I wonder,” said Kina. “Would this device enable you to become Exalted?”

“What?!” The Governor seemed shocked. “Obviously not! That’s not how this works!”

“Well how  _ does _ it work, then?”

“Why don’t you ask your friend? She’s the Godmaker here.”

Erika groaned. “Oh not this again, I really don’t-” She fell silent, thought for a second and jumped up from her couch. “Alright, as the official local Godmaker, I hereby,” she snapped - or rather, clacked - her fingers and pointed at the screen, “order you to become an Exalted!”

The Governor stared back. “That’s...not how this works.”

“Welp! Then I have no idea.”

Kina couldn’t help but laugh along with Erika, while the Governor rolled their eyes, looking  _ incredibly _ annoyed.

 

“Alright. What do we do next?” asked Kina.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.” The Governor pinched the bridge of their virtual nose. “I do not ask you to do anything. In fact, I will notify you when they enter this tower, specifically so you can make sure not to interfere with them. Kina, I just gave you the same access rights as your friend. Make sure not to abuse them.”

“ _ Of course. _ ”

“As an Operator, I would normally give you a service mask and send you on missions. I obviously can’t do this right now. This also means I cannot provide you with the usual support. Basically, you have free time now. Do whatever you want. But don’t expect any help should you decide to do anything...irresponsible.”

Kina nodded. “I understand. But I have to ask, what’s the deal with this?” She reached into her coat and drew the gun she had found with the other things in the box.

“Whoa, damn!” Erika immediately came over to take a closer look. “What kind of model is  _ that _ ?”

“Well, that’s a stopper.” explained the Governor. “Part of the standard equipment. Kills pretty much anything you want, by shredding their life force or something. I don’t know. The exact workings are a secret even to me.”

“Yikes. That’s some real Exalted tech, huh?”

“Obviously. But don’t get your murderous hopes up. Will only fire when the user has the proper clearance to kill beings of the target type. And I can’t give you any kill-clearance right now, especially not outside of a mission, and  _ especially _ not against Humans. So feel free to use it as a fancy paperweight, ‘cuz that’s all it is right now. Oh and don’t lose it. It’s an old artifact. I probably won’t be able to make a replacement.”

Kina thought that maybe she should just leave the weapon behind, but then decided to put it back anyway. 

The Governor continued. “Also...usually, Alpha Operators have a so-called brain extension containing a number of interesting features, including tools for electronic warfare...I’ll just admit it, I wasn’t able to get any of this to work with your core as well as I hoped. It was hard enough to properly hook you in. In other words, you’re still an incomplete prototype. Sorry about that. I’ll fix it later, with more time.”

“Okay...i’m not even sure what I would do with something like that. Uhm...what did you do with my old body, anyway?”

“It’s in storage. Should be fine, in case you ever want it back. What, you already miss it?”

“Not really...I was just wondering.”

“Whatever. Kina. Earlier I tried to explain this to your primate friend, but I’m not sure I succeeded.”

“Excuse me?” protested Erika.

Kina continued. “What is it?”

They made a pause before answering. “Do not let me have it. No matter what I say, no matter how much I beg.”

Kina looked at the avatar in surprise. “Are you...afraid?”

“How do I put this…” The Governor appeared to struggle, as if something was putting a strain on them. Then they suddenly relaxed and moved closer to the screen, looking incredibly serious. “There is this light at the edge of my eye. It is the most horrible thing I can imagine, and I want nothing more than to look into it. It scares me so much and want it so badly. Right now, it’s impossible for me to turn my head. I just can’t. It’s forever out of sight. The light is there, but I can never see it.”

“You...can’t turn your head?” asked Erika. “How?”

The avatar moved back a little and pinched the bridge of their nose again, obviously annoyed at the interruption. “It’s...a metaphor? Like, something is out of your reach?”

“Oh, right. But what would happen if you looked into this...light?”

“I just know that the moment I do, I will regret it forever.  _ Literally. _ ” They went back to looking serious. “Should I get the tag, will be able to. I could finally turn my head, just like that. I don’t know if I  _ will _ look. But just imagining that I  _ could _ terrifies me more than anything else. It excites me. I fear nothing more than the light. I want nothing more than to look into it. I’m begging you, Kina. No matter what you do, never...allow me to choose.”

“I’m not sure I fully understand, but...this sounds pretty scary. Is all of this a good idea? What about me, will I be fine?”

“Your friend was, so you should be, too. Unless there’s a light for you, too.”

“Not as far as I can tell.”

“Good.”

“I still don’t get it,” said Erika. “Is this light because of that paradox? What is it, exactly?”

The Governor thoughtfully reached for their chin, then shrugged. “Who knows, really.” Then they grinned with a little mischief. “I suppose certain old religions would’ve called it the devil.”

“The what now?”

 

\----------

 

They were in a large hall, a nameless room on a nameless level in a tower filled with nameless rooms and nameless levels. Well, they probably  _ had _ numbers or some other kind of identification, somewhere in a digital database. But nothing was labeled in the physical world. There were no signs, no markings, and no arrows leading anywhere.

The light was dim. The air was stale and oily, and filled with the hum and buzzing of machinery, some of it hidden, other in plain sight, placed without any visible order or logic. Otherwise the place was in excellent condition. The inside of the entire tower seemed to mostly be made of concrete and blackened metal, and whatever the impossibly hard material of the supporting structure was. Aside from a couple secondary elevators and transporters, they had been forced to walk to this place through endless stairs and corridors, and it hadn’t escaped Kina how much of the interior of the tower was made of metal. 

 

She had never seen this much metal in her entire life. Now she was thinking back to her life as a salvager. Back, when she had risked her life every day for what had been tiny scraps compared to this.

Where had all of this metal originally come from, anyway? The Old World must have been so rich...

 

The Governor destroyed the main elevators, to slow down the intruders, exploiting that they hadn’t disallowed them from doing that. The secondary elevators were also destroyed, right after Kina and Erika were done using them. 

Of course, the members of the Institute had immediately given the order to fix everything, but that naturally took time. Apparently they also had given more clear instructions to prevent the Governor from interfering any further, and to reveal the shortest route to their goal. It seemed like they weren’t willing to wait any longer. However, the tomb containing the Water of Life was on a level around halfway up the tower, a tower that was four kilometers high. And so the members of the Institute had been forced to effectively walk up a mountain. By foot.

 

The hall Kina and Erika waited in had one of the (now useless) elevators, as well as other entrances and exits, some of which were closed. It didn’t have any interior or decorations worth mentioning. No matter where you looked, Tower 1 was sending a message:  _ This is not a place for people. _

It certainly wasn’t different from the Depths in this regard.

Kina wondered how much effort it must have been taken to rework Tower 5 into a liveable space, if it had looked like this, too.

 

One of the sealed exits was leading to the tomb containing the Water of Life. That was the only way to reach it. A massive, but otherwise unremarkable blast door at the top of a short stairway. The only hint of its terrible secret was that the security door was cold to the touch.

It would only get colder further in. The Governor had decided to keep the Water of Life frozen solid, at a temperature close to absolute zero. ‘Just to be sure’. 

 

Kina was walking back and forth while Erika sat on the ground, leaning against the wall.

“Are you still calibrating or are you just nervous?”

Kina stopped walking. “I, uh…”

“You  _ are _ nervous.” Erika grinned for a second, but then her face got serious again. “It’s okay. That’s just the normal tension before a fight.”

“Fight?” Kina’s eyes went wide. “What makes you think this is going to end in a fight?”

“Well, we have to stop them, right? No matter what.”

“Yes, of course. But fighting them? There has to be another solution.”

“You want to talk them out of it?” asked the knight, sceptically.

“Maybe? We should at least try it.”

“Kina. If they get past us and into this tomb…” She stopped and looked straight ahead, thinking for a moment. “Damn. Are we seriously the only thing standing between them and this horrible stuff? That seems so crazy now that I think about it.”

“I agree, but...the Governor can’t help, the Watch won’t help, and the other Humans, uh, I guess they can’t help us, either? I can’t think of anyone else. And now it’s too late to look for help, anyway.”

“Huh.” Erika scratched her head. “Damn. I would’ve never expected this.” She sighed. “Every time, when I was little, and I read these books or played those games, I mean, the kind where you’re the hero and have to save the world or something? I remember imagining myself in a role like that. Now it’s gotten kind of real, but...this is so surreal. Aren’t we the heroes now? I don’t even know what to feel. I mean...there’s no way they’re  _ actually _ going to turn this thing on, are they?”

“Well…”

“Yeah. Don’t say it. I know what we are like. And capable of. Of course they will do it.”

Kina sat down next to her. “Don’t say that. I’m sure they just don’t know the truth. If we tell them…”

“You think that will change their minds?”

“I mean...two billion people?”

“ _ If _ they believe you...but yes. No way they can just ignore that. Even when it’s just Heirs.”

“What do you mean, ‘just’?” asked Kina.

“You never heard the jokes and comments about them?”

“No...well...maybe a few times?”

“They’re _different_ from us,” explained Erika. “That’s enough for some people to see them as, well, lesser. Or just, you know, _the_ _other_. Alien.”

“That puts some things I’ve heard into context.”

“Exactly...some people these days have little love for them. For what they are. And what they have. Oh,” her voice changed, “ _ they _ have everything they need, and we don’t.  _ They _ are happy and free and we aren’t.  _ They  _ aren’t helping us enough.  _ They _ should find a way to make the krell leave us alone, blah blah and so on.”

“But I thought they can’t do any of that?” reminded Kina.

“That’s right. And I’m sure that if they could, they would.”

“So what do you think of them?”

“I just...find them really fascinating. Ever since I first saw them, you know, back when I was a kid.” Erika leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. “The one at the wall never came back. I later heard she was at one of the gates, but I missed her there, too. Just my luck, I guess.”

“I remember you really wanted to talk to one of them.”

“Yeah…just once, at least. I just  _ have _ to. There’s so much I would like to know.”

“I met another one on the expedition, by the way. When I got away from the group. But don’t tell anyone.”

“Really?” Erika’s face lit up immediately. “Tell me more!” 

“Well, we couldn’t talk for long. I guess you could say he was a bit of a weirdo. But very friendly. He was, hmm, how do I describe this...”

“Kind-hearted, pacifistic, easy-going…?” suggested Erika.

Kina agreed. “Pretty much, yes. Are they really all like that?”

“Probably not all, but most, from what I’ve heard...you know, I never told anyone this. But if I’m honest, I’d much rather be one of them.”

“Erika…”

The knight leaned forward, making a frustrated noise. “I still don’t understand it. Why was everything changed, except for this place? What is so special about Orchid? Why do  _ I _ have to be like  _ this _ ?”

“What do you-”

“You were right, you know? We should talk to them. You know what? I didn’t even consider this. I thought it was obvious we have to fight them. Remember what that Spirit in the noodle bar said? ‘Bent for violence’. I guess he was right.”

Kina put her hand on Erika’s shoulder. “Don’t think too much about this. He was trying to insult you.”

“Sure, but...in the games, in all the stories I saw and read, the hero always defeats the bad guys by fighting them. Right? And we are the heroes now, trying to save so many people? But,” she closed her eyes again and shook her head. “I’m a knight. I’ve sworn to protect the people of Orchid.” Her voice began cracking. “I can’t just fight other Humans, can I? Kina, if they don’t listen, what should we do?”

“I...I don’t know.” After a moment of thinking and consulting her base memory again, Kina continued. “You’re talking about heroes and stuff like that. I can’t say I understand much of it. But from what I know, isn’t a hero someone who always finds a way to do the right thing?”

“I guess that’s true. But still.” Erika shook off Kina’s hand and got up. Now it was she who was walking back and forth, still visibly upset. “I can’t stop thinking about something you said. That thing from your teacher, what was her name, Yon?”

Kina just nodded in confirmation.

“Right. The part with us being beasts?”

“That’s not what she said. You aren’t beasts. It’s just means that sometimes you can lose yourself.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it? We may have evolved the ability to think, but deep down we’re still just animals.”

“I mean, technically…” Kina trailed off, struggling for words.

“Disgusting, violent animals.”

“Erika, stop.”

“But isn’t this what you think? And all the other Spirits? Isn’t this how we appear to you?”

“It doesn’t matter how you appear to me, or us. The Exalted have declared you holy. You are the sentience of the cosmos. You are the Godmakers. That’s what matters.”

“That’s all? You’ve seen the Heirs yourself. Aren’t they, you know,  _ better _ ? In literally every way?”

“Not sure what you mean. But I will say, I prefer you the way you are.”

Erika stopped in her tracks, surprised. 

“I mean, what I’m trying to say is,” continued Kina, “if your ancestors had been changed, wouldn’t that mean you would’ve never been born?”

“Well, I guess…”

“And then your people would’ve never created me, either. And then we would’ve never met. Wouldn’t that be...sad?”

Erika opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again. Then she just smiled, faintly.


	14. Pain

Even the cold, hard floor did not stop Erika from sleeping for a few hours. Kina lent her her jacket as a cushion, but they had little else. There was no comfort in this place. The water they had brought started to run out as well. At least Kina didn’t need to drink anymore. Or breathe. More things she had to get used to.

When they were awake, Erika tried to pass the time by teaching Kina some simple games she had learned as a child. They were quite silly, but there wasn’t much else to do and she went along with it. 

 

Then they came.

 

Erika and Kina got into position when they heard steps and voices.

Six Humans and two Spirits entered. Kina recognized Kun and Miji, the latter unconscious and being carried by the technician, but apparently otherwise unharmed. Aside from that there was the leader, William Jago, with four more people, two men and women each. One of the women was the one with the EMP rifle, which she was still carrying.

The entire group froze when they noticed the two of them standing in their way.

“What the-” started one of the men, but Jago cut him off with a quick gesture. 

Looking left and right, he took two or three slow and confident steps forward, before looking back at the two. “I’m pretty sure we ordered the Governor not to bring in any kind of help.”

“The Governor told us to leave,” answered Kina. “We are here by our own decision.”

“Really. What do you want?”

“Isn’t that obvious? We’re here to stop you.”

One of the men in the back laughed. “What? Two girls, against us? Oh please. Go home before you get hurt.”

“Careful,” responded the technician with a more serious voice. ”One of them is a knight.”

“Hey, you’re right!” said the woman with the rifle. “And at that age. Aww, poor thing…”

Kina picked up something in her voice. In the corner of her eye, she could see Erika tensing up and reaching for her sword. She stretched her arm out in a calming gesture. 

The other woman had black, smooth hair and looked eastern. She chuckled in response. Now that Kina gave her a second look, she appeared somewhat similar to the technician. Were they related?

Jago ignored the exchange and continued. “I’m assuming you know what we are intending to do?”

“You want to activate the so-called Water of Life.”

“Which would turn the planet back to its original state, yes. Its  _ natural  _ state. You object to that?”

“All of the Heirs would-”

Jago cut her off. “Oh now I see! The Governor told you the same crap. So that’s what’s going on here. Well, don’t worry about it. It’s a lie.”

“A lie? Do you have any proof of that?” demanded Erika.

Jago turned to her, but didn’t answer the question. “You have a hybrid frame,” he stated instead, after taking a good look. “Such a shame.”

“Oh, this again?” hissed Erika in response. “Go ahead. I don’t care what you think.”

Jago’s eyes went wide and he raised his hands. “Oh, no! Don’t misunderstand me. I believe it is just tragic. Nobody should be forced to violate their body like that. Neither to be forced to fight and die in a pointless war.”

Erika only gave an angry stare as an answer.

He continued, now smiling. “We can end this war, you know. Forever. We can bring back the Old World in all its glory. And then,” he held his palms upward and looked around, as if into the distance. “We could do so much more! The power of Orchid is incredible, we’re barely beginning to understand it. Controlling the weather, creating life? We could do anything!” When Erika didn’t respond to that he relaxed, and looked back at her. Raising a hand to his chin, he seemed to examine her for a moment. “Hmm. Music, I bet. Piano…? No. Violin? Ah, yes.” His smile got wider.

Erika breathed weirdly for a moment. “What are you…”

“We could get you fixed is what I’m getting at. If you want.” He gave her a moment to process what he said. “We have found evidence of advanced medical installations deep within the station. The one we got in Tower 5 is nothing compared to them. Getting you some proper arms back won’t be an issue. And then...you would never have to fight again.”

“But...but at the cost of two billion lives?”

Jago withstood her gaze, remaining perfectly calm. “The Governor is preventing us access to those facilities, and who knows what else. The bastard locked the Water of Life away with some flimsy excuse. Why would you believe that thing? The Heirs will be fine, I’m sure. All the technology here is unimaginable advanced. I’m certain you have seen it yourself. Why would the Water be any different?”

“Erika…” called Kina, when she saw her friend struggling with herself.

The knight shot a glance back, her face hard to read but apparently full of worry.

Kina had no idea what to say in such a situation. So she just said the first thing that came to her mind. “You still know what’s right, don’t you?”

Erika looked back at Jago, back at Kina, back at Jago. Then she closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them again, she had her hand on her sword and changed her stance.

Jago sighed. “Still keen on playing the hero, huh?”

“I’m not playing anymore.”

“Have it your way, then. Morio! Kun! You come with me. The rest of you, take care of this...problem. Do whatever is necessary to prevent them from interfering.”

Morio apparently was the technician who carried Miji, since he moved to follow Jago, along with Kun. The rest of his followers spread out and tried to block Kina and Erika from stopping the three.

Jago lost no time as he walked up the stairs. He held up the black pendant and shouted a simple “open!”. The massive doors groaned, then slowly slid into the walls. Jago, Morio and Kun went in.

“Wait! You can’t do this!” shouted Kina, taking a few steps forward, but the others moved to stop her. 

Large knives and shock batons appeared, and one of the men drew a heavy pistol. 

Kina had seen this model before - a high-powered anti-krell weapon, intended to be used only by knights. Even regular firearms were heavily restricted for civilians, and owning military hardware was obviously illegal. These people were prepared for anything...and apparently they had some good connections.

She had no choice but to retreat back. A glance to the side told her that Erika still had her hand on her sword, but she hadn’t drawn it yet. 

For a second she considered taking out her stopper but changed her mind immediately.  _ I’d just escalate this with a useless weapon. This can’t be a good idea. There must be another way. _

“You can’t be serious!” she shouted instead. “Please put your weapons down! Your friend is about to make a horrible mistake!”

“What mistake? We’re going to save the world!” said the man with the gun. “I’ve been through three goddamn famines. Never again. Anything is better than this crap!” 

His friends agreed with him, one more agitated than the next.

“Yeah, remember the big one? I’m not going to raise kids in a world like this!”

“They had everything they needed in the Old World!”

“Right! Plenty of food! Plenty of everything! Even stuff like HR! Back then everyone had unlimited access! We could bring that back, just imagine!”

“I didn’t study Old World architecture just to rot in this place!”

“I-I know it’s difficult,” Kina tried again, “but there has to be some other-”

“Shut up! Who do you even think you are?”

She was at a loss. They just wouldn’t listen. Why did Humans never listen?

Fear started to paralyze her. She had been in dangerous situations before, but those could always be resolved by running away. But she couldn’t run away, not this time. And fighting...she had no idea how to fight.  _ How do Humans fight? _ Whatever violent impulses they used, she didn’t have them. Not to mention she had no practice or training. And no proper weapon, either.

She struggled against the debilitating feeling, but it was difficult. 

_ Spirits like me aren’t made to be brave. _

As the four started to come closer, she raised her hands. “Please, you have to listen, you can’t…”

“I’m not going to let you kill them,” growled Erika. “Kina, I’m afraid talking time is over.”

_ This is the worst idea I’ve ever had, _ thought Kina, as she pulled out her stopper and pointed it at the Humans. 

A thin red outline appeared around it in her augmented vision, along with some status messages tied to it.

_ Neutralization level RESTRICTED. _

_ No viable targets in range. Please refer to your controller. _

“This is an Exalted weapon!” she shouted anyway. “Stand down or I’ll use it!”

The Humans stopped, looking a little confused. But that was all. They didn’t lower their weapons, nor did they back off.

A few tense moments passed. Kina’s mind was struggling to come up with ideas on what to do next.

“Okay,” she tried again, noticing that her voice was trembling a little. “Put your weapons down. Please.” _Please?_ _Do you say that in a situation like that?_

“Nice try. You’re bluffing,” hissed one of the men. “Such a thing doesn’t exist.”

“You fucking heard her!” shouted Erika. “Put your weapons down! Or else!”

“Or what? You gonna fight us? You, all of us at once?”

“One more word and you’re the first.”

“I want to see you try,” said the woman with the EMP rifle, raising her weapon, “without your augs!”

“Wait, no!” shouted Kina, jumping forward. There was a flash and a loud  _ CRACK _ . 

Next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the ground. Unfamiliar status messages and warnings of all kinds flashed in front of her eyes. Warnings about several subsystems having been forced to reboot. 

However, her core did not crash. She slowly realized she must have been hit by the EMP. This body was shielded pretty well, it seemed, but the blast had been strong enough to take her out for a few seconds. Static noise and alerts filled her ears, but through it she could hear shouting, clashing of steel, screams, and a gunshot.

The messages began to disappear and she regained enough control to stand up, but it was already over. 

When she looked around, only one person was left standing, holding a dripping sword. 

“Erika…?”

The Human turned around. For a fracture of a second, Kina could see something disturbing in her eyes. She recognized it - she had seen it before, in others. It was the thing Yon had dubbed ‘the beast’. 

Yet this time, it was immediately replaced with surprise and relief.

“Kina! I thought...when they hit you with that thing…I...” Then she made a pained sound and grabbed the side of her stomach with her free hand.

“Erika! You’re…” Kina hurried over to her.

“Dammit! The one with the gun got me. But I got him, too!”

“You’re bleeding!”

“Not as bad as...oh. Oh dear Exalted, no…” Erika looked around, horrified at the realization. Lying on the ground were the bodies of the four assailants. One of them was still moving a little, while the rest was already lifeless. “I killed them. I...I...when she shot you, I mean, an EMP at that distance, I thought you were dead...I kind of saw red, totally lost it...fuck, no. I killed them. I just did what they had taught me...it was so easy. It was over before I realized what I was doing. I’m a natural, they said...haha…”

Kina went on her knee and tried to take a closer look at the wound. All Spirits knew basic first aid, so they could treat each other in the case of accidents. And fortunately, Humans weren’t all that different from Spirits on the inside. Just...bigger.

“I’m so sorry,” Erika continued, her voice trembling, “I wasn’t strong enough. They gave me power, but when it mattered, I was too weak. I killed them, just like that. I guess I’m no hero, after all.” 

“Stop saying these things!”

“Look at this!” She held up her blood-stained sword. “I broke my oath! I can’t...even call myself a knight anymore!” She threw the blade away in disgust. It clattered over the ground, before sliding to a halt. “I guess the stuff Clovis is talking about is true. That’s how we are. We can pretend we’re ‘civilized’ as much as we want, but this thing will just keep happening, for as long as we exist...Kina...what are you doing?”

“Trying to stop the bleeding! Hold still already!”

“No! Kina!” Erika took her head in both hands and lifted it, to look directly into her eyes. Kina saw tears running through bloodstains over her face. “You have to go! It’s not too late yet, you have to stop them!”

“I’m not going to leave you!”

“It’s fine! Everybody else did it, too!”

“But I would never do that!” Kina protested. “You’re going to die!”

“Doesn’t matter! Go!” shouted the knight.

“No! You are my friend!”

“Kina, I’m a murderer…just...”

“Erika, listen, everything will be fine, I promise! I’ll get you out of here, somehow!”

Erika just let her hands drop, as if all strength had left her arms, and looked to the ceiling. She started sobbing, while Kina realized that there wasn’t much she could do to properly stop the bleeding, other than a basic bandage she improvised. The bullet had gone right through her body, blowing through the back, as to be expected from such a high-powered weapon. Apparently no major blood vessels were ruptured, but there was no doubt some of her internal organs were damaged. She needed proper medical care, and soon.

The strength of her augmentations was probably the only thing that still kept her standing upright, but Kina could feel how even that was fading.

She put her arm around her friend and tried to support her, while leading her towards the exit. 

“Stop it...you know it’s pointless, the way back is far too long...just let me. At least then this will be over soon.”

“I will never leave you.”

“Kina…”

Suddenly, one of the main elevators opened.

“Jeez, I finally managed to fix this thing.” The Governor was visible on a screen inside, looking off to the side with their arms crossed. They sounded like they were trying really hard to not talk to anyone in particular. “I guess I’m just going to park it on this random level...oh, shoot, the tomb has been unsealed and the Water of Life is getting warmed up and ready for activation? Well, this is bad...but it’s going to take at least thirty more minutes?...wait, why am I talking to myself again?” They made a pained sound. “Oh, my head! I should stop that.”

The monitor turned off.

“Thank you.” whispered Kina, while she dragged her friend into the elevator.

 

“You have to hold out just a little bit longer.” said Kina, while the elevator raced towards the ground level. “I’m getting you out of here, you will see.”

Erika, who was sitting on the ground, nodded faintly. “Guess you were right,” she brought out between heavy, pained breaths. “I should probably feel silly now but I just...I mean, you will be going back, right?”

“Of course. Don’t worry, I will finish this.”

“Right…” The knight fell silent for a moment. “I wonder what’s going to happen next. I’m gonna be in so much trouble…”

“Well, nobody saw what happened, right?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“W-well I’m just saying. Sorry. Old habits I guess. Rule number one to avoid trouble as a Spirit: Whatever happens, don’t get caught. But I guess this is different now?”

“Heh. You’re still doing that.”

“What?”

Erika weakly pointed with her finger.

“Ah!” Kina pulled her hand away from the back of her neck. “You’re right. And it’s not even itching anymore. Strange.”

Erika smiled through her pain, before looking straight ahead, lost in thought. “You know, I would’ve never believed any of this crazy stuff would happen. Not too long ago I wanted nothing more than a stupid, normal life. Children and all...I actually love children, you know. Now they won’t even let me close to them. I guess in this world, what you want doesn’t really matter.”

“Well isn’t that the truth.” There was a weight behind Kina’s words that could only come from the experience of a life lived as a Spirit.

“So what can you do?”

Kina shrugged. “Look forward, keep going? Just keep focussing on whatever step you have to take next. Never look back, never stop...”

“Is that from your teacher?”

“Hmm...no. Actually, I’m not even sure how I just came up with that. Spirits usually don’t even have real goals. Aside from making it through the day in one piece.”

“But you have a goal now.”

“Yes.”

Erika fell silent and closed her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me,” she continued after a while, her voice sounding even weaker now. “But if I get the chance, maybe I should do something, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way we treat you; your kind, I mean. It’s not okay. They taught me not to care too much, since on the inside you’re ‘just machines’.”

“Really. Well, don’t forget the part about us being stupid and all that.”

“Heh, right. ‘Spirits don’t have real feelings, it’s all just simulated!’ they say.”

“My feelings are simulated? How do I tell the difference?”

“No idea. And you know what, I don’t even care anymore. What I see is real enough for me. I never truly cared about anything. I grew up only to realize that I’m the last survivor of my family. And there won’t be anyone after me. No more Teubners. First I was, whatever.” She coughed, and grimaced, taking a moment before she could continue. “But after some time it makes you think, you know. Whether I die today or in a hundred years, what’s even the difference? And who cares, anyway?”

“I do, for a start. And, well. No Spirit ever had a child, you know. There’s more to life than just that.”

Erika closed her eyes again. “Yes, of course. I can see that now. Even if it’s just...literally anything other than slowly bleeding to death in an elevator. I’ve done something horrible today, Kina...I don’t know if I can ever make up for it. But maybe there is  _ something _ I can do. I don’t know if I can change anything. But I have to at least try…”

The elevator stopped and the doors shot open.

 

\----------

 

Kina did not expect to see so many Humans outside. She spotted the uniforms of Orchid Security and other services, as well as a full unit of armored knights and a growing number of civilian onlookers and curious Spirits. The Governor must’ve done something to alert them - and whatever it was, it clearly had them shaken up.

Erika had already lost consciousness, and so Kina was carrying her in her arms. The bleeding had slowed but still not stopped. Kina was just glad she could still feel her breath.

A moment after she stepped out of the tower, someone shouted, and everyone turned around. Suddenly, a lot of guns were pointed at her, and she could hear the distinct sound of charging plasma-capacitors.

_ Stay strong, don’t be afraid, stay strong, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid… _

Kina kept going forward. She knew that if she stopped for just a second, she would never bring herself to take another step ever again. She wanted to cry. She wanted to run away and hide somewhere. Like she always had.

The Humans were silent. Nobody knew what to do with a person coming out of one of the forbidden towers. Nobody shouted. Nobody fired. But nobody lowered their weapon, either.

“Please.” Kina broke the silence. “You have to help her. She’s really hurt…”

Nobody reacted. 

_ They aren’t listening. _

Kina felt her eyes getting wet. “Please…”

“Holy crap, is that the little princess?” asked a familiar voice. A man with the augmentations of a knight, but in regular clothing, pushed himself through his armored buddies. This disturbance must have broken the ice for a group of medics, who decided to get moving as well. 

“Put your guns down you goddamn idiots, she’s with us!” shouted the man as he came running. 

Even though no official orders were given, the armed Humans listened. One after the other, they lowered their weapons, turned them off.

Kina put Erika on the ground, carefully. The man went down on a knee beside her, but was pushed aside almost immediately after by the arriving medics. 

“Is that a gunshot?”

“Yes.”

After that, they didn’t pay any more attention to Kina, focusing only on taking care of the wounded knight.

“You better don’t let her die…” said the man, as he observed helplessly from the side. 

Kina looked at him. “Thanks, Clovis.”

“Huh?” He looked up at her, looking confused. “Do I know you?”

“Ah.” She smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Take good care of her, okay? I have to leave.”

“Sure…” He stared in bewilderment as she turned around to go back to the tower.

Forcing herself not to run, she hoped to reach it before anyone realized what was going on.

“Hey!” shouted someone.

_ Just a bit more. _

“Hey, wait! Stop!”

_ Please, door, don’t close now. _

“Arrest her! Hurry! Don’t let her get away!”

She could hear the footsteps of running Humans behind her.

_ Almost there… _

 

The thick door slammed shut right after her, becoming a seamless part of the wall once more.


	15. The Water of Life

It was cold. It bothered her less than it used to, but still, the air bit her skin wherever it was exposed, while slowly creeping under her clothing. It felt less like the cold of a fresh winter morning, and more the cold of a grave.

Kina had no idea how that analogy suddenly popped into her mind.

Icy, white fog came flooding through the massive, open doors, flowing around two large and one small figure. Another small one was lying on the ground, almost like he was forgotten.

Beyond the door and the fog Kina could only see an eerie blue glow, but she knew it was there. 

The Water of Life.

“Hey!” she yelled, causing the trio to turn around. 

They all looked surprised to see her.

“You again!” shouted Jago. “Where are the others?”

Kina hesitated. She was still unsure what to do in this kind of situation. 

_ What do you do as a hero? Can a Spirit even be a hero? _

But she knew she had to do  _ something, _ before she had time to become afraid again.

So she straightened herself and tried her best to speak loud and clear. “Stop what you are doing at once!”

“I don’t think so. Who the hell are you, anyway?”

“I am…” she started, before falling silent with doubt. But then she straightened herself again. “I am Number 605-386. My name is Kina.”

Kun gasped with shock.

“A Spirit?” said the man called Morio. “But you are, uh…”

“Kina?” Jago grinned. “You’re the one from before, I remember. A new body, huh? Interesting. So you’re the type who strives to become Human? Can’t say I expected that.”

“That’s not why I look like this.”

He shrugged. “Hey, I’m not judging. So, you want to stop us?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

He took a step towards her and the same smile he had when he had talked with Erika earlier appeared on his face. “Well, look at you. I’m certain you are aware, it is illegal for Spirits to have Human-like bodies. In case you don’t know, that rule was made by the Administration...like many others.”

“I’m not here to talk about rules and laws.”

“Oh, but it is quite relevant. You see, the Administration was always supposed to be only a temporary establishment, to what was thought to be a temporary problem. As no solution could be found and the years went on, it became permanent. But they are tyrants. You, as a Spirit, should know that better than anyone else.”

“He’s right, Kina,” said Kun. “Did you think about this? About how we had basically the same rights as Humans back then?”

“...aside from some regulations regarding things like reproduction.” added Morio.

“Yes, but still! We were considered people! Can you imagine? We can go back to this!”

Kina sighed. “This again, Kun?”

“Kina, please. We are so close. I still think you should be on our side. And even if you don’t care about yourself, at least think of the others!”

“You seriously believe it’s going to be that easy, do you?”

“You will see soon enough,” Jago said, taking over again. “We will use the Water of Life, and as soon as it has finished its job, the Administration will lose its purpose and get disbanded. Then all we have to do is go out and reclaim this world as ours once more.”

Kina crossed her arms. “And then what? You’ll start fighting each other again, with wars and all that? Like you always did?”

“How dare you-” started Morio, but Jago cut him off.

“Ah, so that’s what you’re worried about. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. It’s not wrong...we’re awfully good at that, aren’t we? And yes, maybe we will do that. However, keep in mind we’re not starting from scratch here. Over the last centuries, the Keepers have worked hard to recover and preserve as much knowledge from the Old World as possible, including our history. We  _ will _ be able to avoid most of the mistakes our ancestors did, I’m sure of it.” He made a short pause. 

Kina remained silent. 

“And of course...well. You Spirits don’t call us ‘Godmakers’ for nothing. We made the Exalted in the past. That means we can do it again. But this time, we won’t put them in charge. They will work  _ for _ us, instead. And then we can achieve anything! Humans and Spirits, together. Just imagine! We could conquer the stars! There is an entire universe out there, just waiting for us!”

“And for this,” grumbled Kina, “you’re going to sacrifice billions of Heirs.”

Jago stared for a moment, then shook his head. “There is no proof that this is going to happen.”

“They are people, too.”

“The Water of Life will just turn them back, like everything else.”

“The Governor-” she begun, but he cut her off.

“The Governor is  _ crazy _ ! Haven’t you noticed? This...this  _ thing _ is not on our side!”

“What if it’s true?”

“It’s not!”

“ _ What if it’s true? _ ”

“Then SO WHAT?” he shouted, now clearly angry. “The Metahumans are  _ old _ ! They have lived their lives! And look at them! You can’t tell me those...primitives are the future of mankind? That’s the best we can do, our final destiny? I refuse to accept that. This can’t be it. There has to be more! We have such an incredible potential! All  _ they _ will achieve is, what? Sitting around, living forever in some stupid paradise? No greatness, nothing! Does it even matter when they die?”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

“You sure like talking about Heirs,” uttered Kina. “Have you ever tried talking with them?”

He stared at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. “You still haven’t answered the other question, by the way. Where are the others? We heard a commotion, what was that about?”

“They are dead.”

“What?” Morio took a step forward. “You’re lying!”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, that can’t be...Hana! NO!!!” He dropped everything and ran towards the exit. He didn’t even look at Kina as he went past her.

 

“So you killed them,” said Jago through his teeth, after Morio was gone.

“No, I didn’t, it was…” She fell quiet.

“Your friend? Sure. Always nice to have someone to put the blame on, am I right?”

“No, I’m not! It was just...it was…”

“Ah, forget it. Spare me your excuses. They knew there was a risk, and I won’t let their deaths be in vain. The Water is almost ready.”

Kina stood there for a moment with her eyes closed. But then she straightened herself once more and stretched out her hand. “Give me the device.”

A smile flitted across his face but disappeared after a second. “No. This might be our one and only chance. You will not stop me.”

Kina shot forward. She knew that catching him off-guard was her only chance. Fortunately, with this body, she was faster than ever before.

Jago’s eyes went wide with shock. More out of a reflex he raised the pendant, shouting “Stop!”.

And Kina did indeed stop...or would have, if momentum hadn’t carried her forward. Weird glitches danced in front of her eyes, as something powerful tried to invade her mind.

Then she crashed into him, the tag slipped out of his hand, and everything went back to normal.

Both reacted quickly, as they struggled to get ahold of the black pendant. Kina was stronger, but Jago actually knew how to fight like this. He managed to get the upper hand and snatched the tag.

“Haha, and now-”

He was cut off when Kina used his brief distraction to punch him in the face.  _ Hard _ .

This dazed him long enough for her to grab the tag and get back on her feet.

 

“A Spirit hitting a Human...how dare you…” he struggled to get back to his feet as well, while she quickly got some distance between them.

After she was in a better position, she looked at the pendant, holding it carefully in her hand. And then she could feel it. Subtle limiters on her mind and sneaky barriers on her thoughts she had never really noticed, just disappearing. She could tell there even were emotions she had been blocked from feeling. It was as if a weight she had carried her whole life was suddenly lifted. Only now, when it was gone, she could feel that it had always been there.

“Okay, Kina. You got me. What do you want? I have influence. I have money. I can-”

“Human.” She reached into her coat and took out her stopper. Looking at the weapon, the virtual outline appeared on it again, as well as the additional information tied to it. It had changed. The message reading  _ Neutralization Clearance Level: _ was now followed by a red, flashing  _ UNLIMITED _ . “What was that thing your kind is so afraid of? Wasn’t it something like...” 

She raised the gun at him. A small status bar appeared and filled up quickly, before turning green. 

_ Target locked. Pull trigger to perform stopping action.  _

“...a Spirit with a weapon?”

His eyes went wide. But then after a moment, a broad grin appeared on his face. He stretched out his arms to the side, presenting his chest. “Alright, Kina. Do it. Come on.” When she didn’t react, he slowly began walking towards her. “So, what will it be? Want to be Human? Then do what we do, and shoot. Kill me. Or, be a good little Spirit, and do as you’re told: Give me the device!”

After a moment, she lowered the weapon. “No.”

“Heh, I knew it. Spirits.” Suddenly he had a slim knife in his hand. A blink later he came at her in full speed.

Kina held up the clearance tag. “Watch!”

Jago stopped dead in his tracks, struggling to come to a halt. “Wait.”

An eerie, crackling sound was in the air.

“Remove this Human and the one in the other room from the tower. Unharmed. After that is done, revoke all temporary access rights they might still have.”

“Order accepted. It is a pleasure to serve!” shouted the nervous, girly voice seemingly from nowhere and everywhere at once. The walls bled black ooze. Dark, faceless drones emerged from it, assembled in no more than a second or two.

They looked only vaguely humanoid, standing about three meters tall, broad and angular. Shimmering black, with a structure that seemed both organic and crystalline. They moved with a speed and grace that seemed impossible for their size and statue, as if retaining some of the fluidity of the substance that had created them. 

Everything about them unsettled Kina down to her core, even more so when she realized that they must be Spirits, too.

“Kina. Listen,” said Jago as he got grabbed by the enforcers. He didn’t even try to resist. “Activate it. Please. You have to do it. We’re doomed. You know that! You have friends too, don’t you!?”

Kina looked after him as he got dragged out of the room, cursing and shouting. 

Suddenly, she felt something grabbing her arm, trying to get the pendant. Without thinking, she smacked it with the handle of her stopper and ended up hitting something soft and squealing.

It turned out to be Kun, who she had almost completely forgotten about. He let go immediately and tumbled to the ground. Kina took a step to follow-up, but he was already crying and rolling up, protecting his head and stomach in the typical position of a Spirit that gets beaten by a Human. 

 

_ Be careful, it’s easy to accidentally break stuff. _ Erika’s words echoed through her mind.

 

Only now she realized how hard that hit had been. She had felt something crack inside of him.

Horrified, she stepped backwards, dropping the weapon to the ground. “I-I’m sorry...I didn’t mean to…”

“You…” he brought out between heavy breaths, “you are not....one of us…anymore...”

She stared at him for a moment that felt like eternity. Many things came to her mind. She wanted to respond, to defend herself. But in the end, all she could do was grip the pendant tighter and utter another order. “Watch. Remove this Spirit from the tower, unharmed. After that is done, revoke all temporary access rights he might still have.”

She endured his angry gaze as the drones carried him off as well.

 

Miji looked smaller than she remembered when she kneeled down next to him. Carefully, she lifted his head and felt for the back of his neck and the metal plates embedded there, quickly finding what she was looking for. The coma chip. She pulled it out and waited. It didn’t take long and he started waking up.

“Uuuhhh...huh? Who…?”

“Miji, it’s me! Kina!”

“Er...who? Have we met before?”

Her face dropped as a feeling of dread rushed over her.

But then he grinned. “Hehe, just kidding! Don’t worry, my memory is fine. Or is it? You look so different. What happened to you?”

“Miji, you…”

“Ah, hey! Ow! Don’t squeeze me so hard! Damn, you are strong! And big!”

“Oh! Oh no, are you okay?”

“Yes...uhm, let me see…” He stood up and checked his body. “Yepp, everything seems alright! Uhm, by the way…” He looked around curiously. “Where are we?”

 

It took a while to explain everything.

 

\----------

 

“So that’s it?” Miji looked down at the lightly glowing substance with wide eyes. 

The tomb was enormous, containing hundreds of large basins, all filled with the Water of Life. The liquid looked like it was boiling without heat, stirring and squirming, almost as if it was alive...and  _ excited _ . 

“Seems like it. Miji, I don’t know what to do. The whole time I was sure I was doing the right thing, but now I’m not sure anymore. People died for this stuff. Now we could activate it and change the world. Or seal it away forever.”

“That’s a no-brainer, right? Using it would kill all these people out there.”

“If that is true, yes. But what if it’s not? Leaving it would mean everything stays the way it is. And the way it is...it’s not very good, isn’t it?”

“Maybe, but...oh, I don’t like thinking about this, Kina. Can’t we just go home, back to the way things were before?”

She leaned on the railing in front of them, looking down at the strange substance. “I wish. But we can’t go back, Miji. Not really. They erased your memories. And it was all my fault.”

“What do you mean, your fault?”

She took a step back, now looking away to the side. “Because it was me who told the SPS! Because of me they got you, and reset your memories. And others too, probably. They threatened a memory pull and I just couldn’t...”

“A memory pull? But if they had done that, they would’ve learned everything anyway, right?”

“Yes. But...I feel like this doesn’t change anything.” Kina turned back to him, helplessly. “It’s still my fault, isn’t it? Instead of standing up to them, finding a way, anything...I just got scared. And in the end, they heard everything from my mouth.”

He gestured her to come down to him, so she went on her knees.

He gave her a hug. “Kina, stop blaming yourself. I’m sure if there had been anything you could’ve done, you would have done it, am I right?”

“O-of course…but...it’s just, we were best friends. And now all those years we spent together are lost, forever.”

“But that’s not true! You still remember them, right?”

“Yes, but-”

He looked straight into her eyes. “Then you just have to  _ tell _ me everything! Yeah, that’s right! You tell me everything that happened. And then, after that, we will make new memories. Together. Okay?”

“Miji…”

“Ah, and right! You have to introduce me to that teacher you kept talking about. Yon was her name, right? She sounds awesome. I want to learn what you learned, too!”

“Miji. Yon isn’t with us anymore.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…” He deflated a little. “I didn’t know. What happened?”

“We don’t live forever, Miji. When our cores get too old, they start breaking down. She was active for more than eighty years. Few of us ever last this long.”

“I see. Well...in that case... _ you _ have to teach me! And not just me. Why not others, too!”

“I-I don’t think I can…”

“Why not? You’re really smart, Kina. And you know so much! I’m sure we could all learn a lot from you!”

“You mean...me, a teacher…like  _ her _ ?” She shook her head. “I don’t know about this. After all that happened, I feel like I barely know anything.”

“Ah, nonsense! How much do I know, then? Less than nothing? I mean, you called me an idiot but...come on.”

“You’re not an idiot, Miji.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Because you’re right. Come...let’s go home.”

 

\----------

 

The dead bodies were still in the elevator room. Kina tried not to think about what might happen to them. The Governor led them to a different room to talk.

There they were expecting them, on a large screen as usual.

“Well. Good job. Disaster avoided. And nobody’s going to open that tomb anytime soon, that’s for sure.”

“Will the Water of Life be fixed one day? And used?” asked Kina.

“No. The Reconversion Project was abandoned long ago. Earth and Metahumanity are going to stay the way they are now. Forever.”

“I...see.”

“Heh.” The virtual avatar crossed their arms. “Punching the guy must’ve felt bad.”

“It...did. I don’t know...it’s…” She struggled for words.

“Yes, I know. This infuriating feeling. You were made in a factory build by the Exalted. So in a way, you’re their children, too.”

“The Exalted…”

“They loved Humanity, you know. More than anything else. And so they made sure a little bit of that love is put into all of us.”

“So that’s why we can never hate them?”

“That’s not entirely true.” The Governor stared off into the distance for a moment, as if in a day dream. “You have enough free will to...kind of hate them? Not too much. It’s more of a moderate dislike. The real, burning hatred they can feel is off-limits for us. But you can still hurt them, if you try hard enough.” They grinned. “As you noticed. It just feels so  _ bad _ . It means acting against a part of your own innermost nature.”

“So, no matter how they treat us…”

The grin disappeared. “Yes. I wonder if they’re even aware of how much they’re abusing this. Ah...it rips you apart, doesn’t it. Look at them. They’re supposed to be holy. The universe itself that became sentient, a living source of the divine. So why are they acting like this…”

Kina scratched her neck. “What do I do next?”

“Give it to me.”

“Wait, but you said earlier-”

The wall next to her opened and a small tray slid out.

“Just put it there.”

“No.”

The avatar shot forward. “ _ I’m not asking. Give it to me. _ ”

The intense voice made Kina flinch for a moment, but then she caught herself. “No!” she shouted.

“Gah!” The avatar suddenly grabbed their head as if they were in pain, but then they relaxed again. The tray disappeared back into the wall. “Ah. Yes. Good. You listened.”

“So this was a test?”

“No. Ah, screw me. Just...go and destroy it. Promise that. Please.”

“Sure. That was my original plan, anyway.”

“Do you see the light?”

“You mean the one you talked about?”

The avatar jumped forward. “ _ Do you see it? _ ”

Kina twitched and took a step back. “Can you please stop that already? Also no, I don’t see your devil or whatever that was.”

“Phew.” The Governor calmed down in an instant.

“How do I destroy it?”

“Easy. The furnaces in one of my nearby factories reach temperatures hot enough. You can reach them with the elevator. I will show you the way.”

“Okay. And after that...can I have my old body back?”

The Governor didn’t immediately answer. “Stay with me, Kina. You’d make a good Operator. I can maintain your body and your core better than anyone else. I can even convert your friend, too, if he so wishes. Give me a bit of time, I’ll work out the kinks. You both would be able to live for a very, very long time.”

She glanced at Miji, who had remained quiet the whole time. He only shook his head. 

Then she looked back, smiling lightly. “Long enough so we have to start resetting our memories out of boredom?”

“What?”

“Nevermind. So, can I have my body back or not?”

The avatar reached for their head. “Ugh...yes, sure. I was afraid you’d say that. Just remember, you owe me one mission. After that you can do whatever.”

“What mission?”

Their face lit up. “I’m  _ glad _ you asked! The water treatment plant. I’ve learned enough about it. For me, it’s impossible. All their systems are airwalled. With you, it’s easy. The right clothing, a forged ID...you would be able to enter without problems. And then! I know how to sabotage it the correct way. They won’t notice anything, not until it is too late.”

Kina was silent for a moment, unsure what to think. “You’re talking about your original plan from earlier? So that would mean...the end of old Humanity? They’d go extinct?”

“Hey, nobody will be hurt. That’s the plan. They will live out their lives, I will even do all in my remaining power to support them as much as I can.” 

“That doesn’t seem right,” said Miji, finally finding his voice again.

“Come on now. Carefully lowering birth rates to slowly reduce population size is something the Exalted have often done in the past. We simply do so again, except this time we reduce the size to zero. And don’t worry about you and the other Spirits. When the Humans are gone, the paradox will be resolved. I will take good care of all of you.”

“I...I don’t know about that,” said Kina.

“What? Do you still love them too much?”

“Is that...bad?”

The Governor just stared at the two with a blank expression, not saying a word. But suddenly, their head jerked to the side, as if they had just noticed something. “Whatever you’re going to do, get moving. There might be trouble.”

The screen turned off.

 

\----------

 

They hurried out of the elevator and towards the industrial area on this level. It wasn’t too far, but they had to run the entire way anyway. They hurried through tunnels, corridors, rooms, with no end in sight.

Kina knew she would’ve been much faster alone, but she refused to leave Miji behind.

 

The entire automated factory gave Kina an odd feeling of nostalgia, reminding her of the one that made her eighteen years ago. Highly advanced machinery was everywhere, stacked to the ceiling and arranged with no discernable order. More often than not, it was impossible to say what each device did, or even just where one ended and the next begun. 

Unlike the plant that had created her, this one was entirely devoid of life, with no Humans or Spirits anywhere. Yet everything was running and operating smoothly, all by itself.

 

It wasn’t hard to find. The glow of the furnaces of the steel processing area came into sight, and the air got much hotter.

“Alright Kina, we made it! Look there, this one seems good!” When Miji went closer, he started struggling against the overwhelming heat coming from the brightly glowing opening. Kina could feel it, too, but it bothered her much less.

She took the device out of her pocket, looked at it one last time, and…

“Don’t do it.”

The two turned around. A man was approaching them. That by itself was unexpected enough, but it was his appearance that made Kina stare in disbelief. Her first impulse, born out of an old habit, was to assume he was a glitch. But that was not true - it couldn’t be.

He was wearing black clothing, with a design quite similar to hers. His face was hidden under a white mask, bearing the symbol of the Exalted on the forehead. In his right he carried something. When he came closer, he made sure she could see it. She recognized it immediately - a stopper.

“Greetings. I am Operator Alpha-8E1, currently in service of the Exalted Besa.” He stretched out his left hand. “Hand over the clearance tag.  _ Now _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finishing this took me way longer than I expected, but I had all kinds of issues to deal with. Anyone who made it this far, thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, and I would love to hear your opinion.


End file.
